Sebastien Bourdais has continued to set the pace of the international co-drivers on the streets of Surfers Paradise in Practice 3.
Bourdias’ best time of 1:12.41s was a full 0.69s faster than team-mate Andy Priaulx, marking a 0.5s improvement over his own Practice 2 topping time.
The Frenchman, who ran down the Turn 12 escape road during the midway point of the 40 minute session, also edged Mark Winterbottom’s fastest time from earlier in the day.
“We made a few changes and I’m really happy now, we made the car easier to drive and very consistent,” said Bourdais after the session.
“Now it’s all in Jamie (Whincup)’s hands. He will very much dictate how tomorrow will go. If we can start at the front I have a pretty good feeling.”
Simon Pagenaud (#33 Fujitsu Racing) was the fastest of the non-TeamVodafone entries in third, while Helio Castroneves (#47 Lucky 7 Racing), Oliver Gavin (#11 Pepsi Max Crew) and Richard Westbrook (#7 Jack Daniel’s Racing) continued their promising earlier form to fill fourth through sixth.
Jan Magnussen was seventh despite missing out on the final minutes of the session after damaging the left-hand side of the Supercheap Auto Racing Commodore.
The Dane had slid slideways into the Turn 13 exit wall after as he tried to counter understeer by picking up the throttle aggressively in the middle of the corner.
Jorg Bergmeister repeated his Practice 2 mistake by overshooting Turn 14 during the session, but managed to pull the #15 Jack Daniel’s Racing Commodore up in time to avoid the wall. The German ended the session 19th fastest.
A trip down the Turn 11 escape road showed that Castroneves was also trying hard, while Ryan Briscoe lost time with a flat right-front tyre.
All drivers will be able to drive in the fourth and final 40 minute practice session of the day, which is scheduled to get underway at 1535.
Times are expected to tumble further in the late afternoon session, with teams looking to complete their first fresh-tyre runs of the weekend prior to tomorrow morning’s Race 21 qualifying.
See below for the full Practice 3 result
| 1 | TeamVodafone | Sebastien Bourdais (FRA) | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:12.4089 | |
| 2 | TeamVodafone | Andy Priaulx (GBR) | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:13.0990 | 0:00.6901 |
| 3 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Simon Pagenaud (FRA) | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:13.1602 | 0:00.7513 |
| 4 | Lucky 7 Racing | Helio Castroneves (BRA) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:13.2915 | 0:00.8826 |
| 5 | Pepsi Max Crew | Oliver Gavin (GBR) | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:13.3662 | 0:00.9573 |
| 6 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Richard Westbrook (GBR) | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:13.5658 | 0:01.1569 |
| 7 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Jan Magnussen (DNK) | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:13.5837 | 0:01.1748 |
| 8 | Irwin Racing | Marc Lieb (DEU) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:13.6109 | 0:01.2020 |
| 9 | Jim Beam Racing | Joey Hand (USA) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:13.7115 | 0:01.3026 |
| 10 | Toll Holden Racing Team | Ryan Briscoe (AUS) | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:13.7344 | 0:01.3255 |
| 11 | Toll Holden Racing Team | Darren Turner (GBR) | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:13.8791 | 0:01.4702 |
| 12 | Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon | Richard Lyons (GBR) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:13.8967 | 0:01.4878 |
| 13 | Bundaberg Racing | Patrick Long (USA) | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:14.0608 | 0:01.6519 |
| 14 | Trading Post FPR Falcon | Mika Salo (FIN) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:14.0784 | 0:01.6695 |
| 15 | Jana Living Racing | Allan Simonsen (DNK) | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:14.1862 | 0:01.7773 |
| 16 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Augusto Farfus Jr (BRA) | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:14.2050 | 0:01.7961 |
| 17 | Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing | Fabrizio Giovanardi ITA | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:14.2414 | 0:01.8325 |
| 18 | Westrac Racing | Gianni Morbidelli (ITA) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:14.2777 | 0:01.8688 |
| 19 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Jorg Bergmeister (DEU) | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:14.2812 | 0:01.8723 |
| 20 | Stratco Racing | Alex Tagliani (CAN) | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:14.3008 | 0:01.8919 |
| 21 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | Christian Klien (AUT) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:14.3699 | 0:01.9610 |
| 22 | Team Boc | Stephane Sarrazin (FRA) | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:14.4357 | 0:02.0268 |
| 23 | Wilson Security Racing | Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:14.4522 | 0:02.0433 |
| 24 | SP Tools Racing | Emanuele Pirro (ITA) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:14.5617 | 0:02.1528 |
| 25 | Mother Energy Racing Team | Gil de Ferran (BRA) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:14.6094 | 0:02.2005 |
| 26 | Jim Beam Racing | Dirk Mueller (DEU) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:14.7063 | 0:02.2974 |
| 27 | Gulf Western Oil Racing | Marino Franchitti (GBR) | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:15.6266 | 0:03.2177 |
| 28 | VIP Petfoods | Boris Said (USA) | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:15.7687 | 0:03.3598 |
See below for Speedcafe.com’s Armor All Gold Coast 600 Race Guide
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