Resurgent Kiwi Fabian Coulthard cracked the top time in opening practice for the ITM 400 Auckland at Pukekohe.
Coulthard continued the blistering form for his Brad Jones Racing Commodore outfit by banging out a 1:03.6938s lap.
Ford Performance Racing driver Mark Winterbottom was second quickest at the revised Pukekohe layout in 1:03.9517s ahead of David Reynolds in the Bottle-O Ford (1:03.9645s).
Coulthard’s BJR team-mate Jason Bright was fourth fastest in 1:04.1074s while highly regarded Kiwi 19-year-old Scott McLaughlin (Fujitsu Commodore) was fifth fastest in 1:04.1178s.
The Red Bull Racing Australia pair of Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes were sixth and seventh respectively.
Coulthard won two of the three races at Symmons Plains last weekend with Bright also recording a victory to give BJR a landmark sweep-out of the weekend.
The opening practice run at Pukekohe is the first of 13 sessions across three days of competition for the V8 Supercars.
V8 SUPERCARS: Practice 1 – Pukekohe
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Fabian Coulthard | Lockwood Racing | 1:03.6938R |
| 2 | Mark Winterbottom | Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford | +0.2579 |
| 3 | David Reynolds | The Bottle-O FPR Ford | +0.2707 |
| 4 | Jason Bright | Team BOC | +0.4136 |
| 5 | Scott McLaughlin | Fujitsu Racing GRM | +0.4240 |
| 6 | Jamie Whincup | Red Bull Racing Australia | +0.4540 |
| 7 | Craig Lowndes | Red Bull Racing Australia | +0.4688 |
| 8 | Russell Ingall | Supercheap Auto Racing | +0.4699 |
| 9 | Alex Davison | Jeld-wen FPR Ford | +0.4841 |
| 10 | Alexandre Premat | Fujitsu Racing GRM | +0.5067 |
| 11 | Shane van Gisbergen | TEKNO Team VIP | +0.5166 |
| 12 | Tony D’Alberto | Team HIFLEX | +0.5218 |
| 13 | Tim Blanchard | Wilson Security Racing | +0.5374 |
| 14 | Will Davison | Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford | +0.5757 |
| 15 | James Moffat | Norton 360 Racing | +0.5784 |
| 16 | Garth Tander | Holden Racing Team | +0.6265 |
| 17 | David Wall | Wilson Security Racing | +0.6345 |
| 18 | Michael Caruso | Norton 360 Racing | +0.6892 |
| 19 | James Courtney | Holden Racing Team | +0.7145 |
| 20 | Lee Holdsworth | IRWIN Racing | +0.8031 |
| 21 | Todd Kelly | Jack Daniel’s Racing | +0.8433 |
| 22 | Tim Slade | Heavy Haulage Australia Racing | +0.9292 |
| 23 | Jonathon Webb | Tekno Autosports | +0.9674 |
| 24 | Maro Engel | SP Tools Racing | +1.0186 |
| 25 | Rick Kelly | Jack Daniel’s Racing | +1.0439 |
| 26 | Jonny Reid | Wilson Security Racing | +1.1880 |
| 27 | Dean Fiore | Dodo Insurance Racing | +1.2862 |
