Reigning Repco Supercars Championship winner Will Brown has set a scorching pace in the Red Bull Ampol Racing Chevrolet Camaro to end Friday at The Bend 500 on top.
Brown’s time of a 1m 48.995s was 0.321s clear of Red Bull Ampol Racing teammate Broc Feeney, while Monster Castrol Racing’s Thomas Randle rounded out the top three to be just 0.062s in arrears of the Repco Sprint Cup winner.
Monster Castrol Racing’s Cam Waters was fourth ahead DEWALT Racing driver Anton De Pasquale and Matt Payne in the lead Penrite Racing Ford Mustang.
Andre Heimgartner headed the Brad Jones Racing’s attack in the R&J Batteries Camaro, with Erebus Motorsport rookie Cooper Murray, Richie Stanaway of PremiAir Racing and Bryce Fullwood completed the top 10.
The final practice session of the day was punctuated by a tree rehearsal of the new safety car regulations although this was the only interruption.
On the borders of the top 10 were Kai Allen, Will Davison, Jack Le Brocq, Nick Percat and Zach Bates.
Brodie Kostecki was down in second last following a starter motor change and a fluid leak in between sessions. A steering problem also arose throughout the day leading to a replacement of various parts overnight.
Two more practice sessions follow to kick off Saturday’s action ahead of qualifying and the Top 10 Shootout to complete the action. Opening the day is a co-driver only session at 9:50am ACST/10:20am AEST.