Fabian Coulthard edged fellow Holden drivers James Courtney and Jason Bright to the fastest time in the opening practice session for the V8 Supercars at Hidden Valley Raceway.
The Lockwood Commodore’s 1:10.55s best came at the 13 minute mark of the 20 minute session, eclipsing Courtney’s previous benchmark by 0.03s.
Coulthard’s Brad Jones Racing team-mate Jason Bright was just 0.02s further adrift in second, while early pace-setter Jamie Whincup made it a Holden sweep of the top four places.
The strong start to the weekend for Coulthard comes as BJR continues to evaluate a suspension upgrade first trailed at a pre-event test day.
Will Davison put his Mercedes fifth fastest, while a late effort from Scott McLaughlin saw his Volvo in sixth.
Typically hot and sunny conditions greeted the teams for the session, with the ambient pushing 30 degrees.
Teams have 12 tyres to use across the day, made up of two sets of pre-marked tyres and one new set.
The second session will kick-off at 1245 local time.
PRACTICE 1
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Difference |
| 1 | 14 | Fabian Coulthard | Lockwood Racing | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.5465 | |
| 2 | 22 | James Courtney | Holden Racing Team | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.5760 | 0:00.0295 |
| 3 | 8 | Jason Bright | Team BOC | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.5988 | 0:00.0523 |
| 4 | 1 | Jamie Whincup | Red Bull Racing Australia | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.6933 | 0:00.1468 |
| 5 | 9 | Will Davison | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:10.8247 | 0:00.2782 |
| 6 | 33 | Scott McLaughlin | Valvoline Racing GRM | Volvo S60 | 1:10.8928 | 0:00.3463 |
| 7 | 5 | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Pepsi Max Crew | Ford Falcon FG | 1:10.9038 | 0:00.3573 |
| 8 | 16 | Scott Pye | Wilson Security Racing | Ford Falcon FG | 1:10.9114 | 0:00.3649 |
| 9 | 97 | Shane Van Gisbergen | Team Tekno VIP Petfoods | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.9347 | 0:00.3882 |
| 10 | 7 | Todd Kelly | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Nissan Altima | 1:10.9744 | 0:00.4279 |
| 11 | 15 | Rick Kelly | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Nissan Altima | 1:11.0721 | 0:00.5256 |
| 12 | 4 | Lee Holdsworth | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:11.1292 | 0:00.5827 |
| 13 | 47 | Tim Slade | Supercheap Auto Racing | Holden Commodore VF | 1:11.1609 | 0:00.6144 |
| 14 | 23 | Russell Ingall | Repair Management Aust Racing | Holden Commodore VF | 1:11.1660 | 0:00.6195 |
| 15 | 18 | Jack Perkins | Team JELD-WEN | Ford Falcon FG | 1:11.1729 | 0:00.6264 |
| 16 | 17 | David Wall | Wilson Security Racing | Ford Falcon FG | 1:11.2005 | 0:00.6540 |
| 17 | 888 | Craig Lowndes | Red Bull Racing Australia | Holden Commodore VF | 1:11.2404 | 0:00.6939 |
| 18 | 6 | Chaz Mostert | Ford Pepsi Max Crew | Ford Falcon FG | 1:11.2459 | 0:00.6994 |
| 19 | 360 | James Moffat | Norton Hornets | Nissan Altima | 1:11.3058 | 0:00.7593 |
| 20 | 36 | Michael Caruso | Norton Hornets | Nissan Altima | 1:11.3086 | 0:00.7621 |
| 21 | 2 | Garth Tander | Holden Racing Team | Holden Commodore VF | 1:11.3131 | 0:00.7666 |
| 22 | 55 | David Reynolds | The Bottle-O Racing Team | Ford Falcon FG | 1:11.4186 | 0:00.8721 |
| 23 | 222 | Nick Percat | Walkinshaw Racing | Holden Commodore VF | 1:11.5736 | 0:01.0271 |
| 24 | 21 | Dale Wood | Team Advam/GB | Holden Commodore VF | 1:11.6165 | 0:01.0700 |
| 25 | 34 | Robert Dahlgren | Valvoline Racing GRM | Volvo S60 | 1:11.7166 | 0:01.1701 |
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