Fabian Coulthard has impressed in Supercheap Auto TCR Australia practice at Phillip Island, even if he was pipped late by Jordan Cox.

Coulthard sat atop the timesheet for a fair chunk of Practice 2 this afternoon on a 1:36.5938s.

That effort had him more than four tenths clear of nearest threat Cox at the halfway mark, although the latter would inch ahead in the final few laps before qualifying tomorrow.

Cox’s best time of a 1:36.5701s left him just 0.0237s ahead of second-placed Coulthard at the close of play.

After a slow start to life in TCR for the 13-time Supercars Championship race winner, the #24 Stan Sport Honda’s pace offers a promising sign of front-running potential.

Coulthard had only once before finished a TCR practice, qualifying or race session inside the top 10, that being Practice 2 at Symmons Plains last month when he was fourth fastest.

Notably, no driver managed to knock off the Practice 1 benchmark laid down by the #9 Melbourne Performance Centre Audi of Jay Hanson (1:36.2042s).

Hanson wound up seventh in afternoon practice, with Aaron Cameron, Josh Buchan, Dylan O’Keeffe and Ben Bargwanna third through sixth.

Will Brown, Michael Caruso and Kody Garland completed the top 10, all of whom were within a second of Cox.

The TCR field will next be on track tomorrow at 11:20 (local time/AEDT) for the start of qualifying.

Stan Sport’s exclusive live and ad-free coverage of the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships event at Phillip Island runs from 11:00-17:00 AEDT on both Saturday and Sunday.

Results: Practice 2, Supercheap Auto TCR Australia