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Championship leader Mark Winterbottom suffered a brief hit with the wall in an opening Coates Hire Sydney 500 practice session which was topped by Shane van Gisbergen.
The Prodrive driver locked the rear wheels of his Falcon in the second half of the 30 minute hit out which saw him slide into the barriers at Turn 1.
Winterbottom was able to recover the car to the pits where it remained for the rest of the session as his crew fixed cosmetic damage.
“Practice is for finding the limits. I turned in and she went. It wasn’t a big hit. The track is pretty slippery,” said Winterbottom.
Frosty had enjoyed a spell at the top of the timesheets earlier in the session, but it was van Gisbergen who emerged quickest with the Tekno driver posting a 1:28.6s effort around Sydney Olympic Park.
Scott Pye maintained his impressive form to slot into second spot in the DJR Team Penske entry albeit 0.4s adrift of van Gisbergen.
David Reynolds posted the third fastest time ahead of Brad Jones Racing’s Jason Bright and Nissan’s Rick Kelly.
Red Bull’s Jamie Whincup was another driver to enjoy the top spot briefly before he ended practice in sixth.
James Courtney, Michael Caruso, James Moffat and Winterbottom, who ended the session in the garage, completed the top 10.
Tim Blanchard was involved in the only other notable incident when his LDM entry made contact with the wall on the back straight.
Result: V8 Supercars Coates Hire Sydney 500 Practice 1
| 1 | Team Darrell Lea STIX | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.6455 | |
| 2 | DJR Team Penske | Scott Pye | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:29.0876 | 0:00.4421 |
| 3 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:29.1146 | 0:00.4691 |
| 4 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 1:29.2737 | 0:00.6282 |
| 5 | Nissan Motorsport | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:29.3216 | 0:00.6761 |
| 6 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 1:29.3755 | 0:00.7300 |
| 7 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 1:29.3929 | 0:00.7474 |
| 8 | Nissan Motorsport | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 1:29.3936 | 0:00.7481 |
| 9 | Nissan Motorsport | James Moffat | Nissan Altima | 1:29.4180 | 0:00.7725 |
| 10 | Pepsi Max Crew | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:29.4374 | 0:00.7919 |
| 11 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Volvo S60 | 1:29.4387 | 0:00.7932 |
| 12 | Freightliner Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VF | 1:29.4605 | 0:00.8150 |
| 13 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 1:29.4867 | 0:00.8412 |
| 14 | Walkinshaw Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VF | 1:29.5082 | 0:00.8627 |
| 15 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 1:29.5614 | 0:00.9159 |
| 16 | Nissan Motorsport | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:29.6117 | 0:00.9662 |
| 17 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 1:29.6214 | 0:00.9759 |
| 18 | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Will Davison | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:29.6942 | 0:01.0487 |
| 19 | Team Cooldrive | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VF | 1:30.1338 | 0:01.4883 |
| 20 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | David Wall | Volvo S60 | 1:30.1797 | 0:01.5342 |
| 21 | Super Black Racing | Chris Pither | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:30.2166 | 0:01.5711 |
| 22 | Pepsi Max Crew | Steve Owen | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:30.2322 | 0:01.5867 |
| 23 | GB Galvanizing Racing | Dale Wood | Holden Commodore VF | 1:30.5207 | 0:01.8752 |
| 24 | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Alex Davison | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:31.1167 | 0:02.4712 |
| 25 | Repair Management Aust Racing | Jack Perkins | Holden Commodore VF | 1:31.1453 | 0:02.499 |
