Penske back on top in third practice

Tony D’Alberto completed a strong day for DJR Team Penske at Sandown by topping the third practice session.

Driving Scott Pye’s #17 Ford, D’Alberto’s 1:09.17s best was just 0.04s shy of team-mate Fabian Coulthard’s time from this morning’s single primary driver practice session.

D’Alberto, who had been second in Practice 2, set his best time of the final hit-out with eight minutes remaining.

Practice 2 pace-setter Steve Richards fell just 0.06s short of D’Alberto in Practice 3 ahead of Steve Owen, Warren Luff and Luke Youlden.

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Dean Fiore was sixth in the leading Nissan from Alex Premat, Jonathon Webb, Paul Dumbrell and James Golding.

All of today’s running was completed in cool but dry conditions, with a brief red flag in the second session the only stoppage.

A final practice session will take place tomorrow morning ahead of qualifying and two sprint races to set the grid for Sunday’s Wilson Security Sandown 500.

Result: Virgin Australia Supercars Championship Wilson Security Sandown 500 Practice 3 (Co Drivers)

1	DJR Team Penske	Tony D’Alberto	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:09.16
2	TeamVortex	Steven Richards	Holden Commodore VF	1:09.22	00.06
3	Supercheap Auto Racing	Steve Owen	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:09.24	00.07
4	Holden Racing Team	Warren Luff	Holden Commodore VF	1:09.29	00.12
5	DJR Team Penske	Luke Youlden	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:09.30	00.13
6	Nissan Motorsport	Dean Fiore	Nissan Altima	1:09.36	00.19
7	Red Bull Racing Australia	Alexandre Premat	Holden Commodore VF	1:09.38	00.22
8	Team Darrell Lea STIX	Jonathon Webb	Holden Commodore VF	1:09.39	00.23
9	Red Bull Racing Australia	Paul Dumbrell	Holden Commodore VF	1:09.53	00.36
10	Wilson Security Racing GRM	James Golding	Volvo S60	1:09.54	00.37
11	Sengled Motorsport	Russell Ingall	Nissan Altima	1:09.58	00.41
12	Holden Racing Team	Jack Perkins	Holden Commodore VF	1:09.60	00.44
13	Repair Management Aust Racing	Cameron McConville	Holden Commodore VF	1:09.61	00.44
14	Freightliner Racing	Ashley Walsh	Holden Commodore VF	1:09.61	00.44
15	Wilson Security Racing GRM	David Wall	Volvo S60	1:09.67	00.51
16	Preston Hire Racing	Karl Reindler	Holden Commodore VF	1:09.74	00.57
17	Plus Fitness Racing	Aaren Russell	Holden Commodore VF	1:09.74	00.58
18	Super Black Racing	Richie Stanaway	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:09.75	00.58
19	GB Galvanizing Racing	David Russell	Nissan Altima	1:09.83	00.67
20	The Bottle-O Racing Team	Dean Canto	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:09.87	00.70
21	Team BOC	Andrew Jones	Holden Commodore VF	1:09.95	00.79
22	Erebus Motorsport	Chris van der Drift	Holden Commodore VF	1:09.95	00.79
23	carsales Racing	Matthew Campbell	Nissan Altima	1:09.97	00.81
24	Monster Energy Racing	Jack Le Brocq	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:09.98	00.81
25	Team Cooldrive	Macauley Jones	Holden Commodore VF	1:10.34	01.18
26	Erebus Motorsport Penrite	Craig Baird	Holden Commodore VF	1:10.66	01.50