Sitting out the closing stages didn’t stop Paul Dumbrell from topping third practice for the V8 Supercars at the Castrol Gold Coast 600.

Dumbrell started the second of the co-driver sessions on the soft tyres, setting an early 1:11.27s that proved unbeatable for the duration.

A persistent vibration following Jamie Whincup’s crash this morning saw the team abandon the final minutes of the session in order to recitify the issue for Practice 4.

“We pulled up stumps just to make sure we can change a few things in the car,” confirmed Dumbrell.

“The car has been good on soft and hard tyres hopefully Jamie agrees and we can go home tonight feeling confident.”

Dumbrell was more than a second clear of the field for the bulk of the session before others ventured onto the softs.

Steve Owen ended up second, just 0.09s adrift of Dumbrell, while Marcos Ambrose jumped to third after the chequered flag.

Jack Perkins, Jonathon Webb and Russell Ingall also used softs to fill fourth through sixth, while seventh placed Alex Premat was the first on hards.

Ingall had been towards the bottom of the order for much of the run before the late switch to softs.

“It is such a steep learning curve, two 30 minute sessions to get your eye in with a completely new car and layout and feel,” Ingall said.

“It was probably harder than I thought it would be, but towards the end of the session I started to feel more comfortable and flow the car better.

“I have got a good idea in my head of what I need to do go quicker.”

Oliver Gavin ended up eighth, despite missing the opening minutes while his crew repaired damage from Practice 2.

Steven Richards was second for much of the going before dropping to ninth as others bolted on the softs, while Tony D’Alberto completed the top 10.

The final V8 Supercars practice session for all drivers is scheduled to begin at 1505 local time.

Result: V8 Supercars Practice 3 (Co Drivers only), Surfers Paradise