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Mark Winterbottom showcased his pace by topping the fourth practice session at the Coates Hire Sydney 500.
The Prodrive driver came through a twice interrupted session to post at 1:27.7s effort on green tyres which proved to be 0.17s quicker than Nissan’s Rick Kelly.
After a difficult Friday which saw Winterbottom crash in opening practice and fail to break the top 10, the championship leader praised his team for tuning the car up overnight.
“It is a lot hotter (the track) so effectively you lose grip but the guys did a good job overnight ot gain grip,” said Winterbottom.
“The guys have fixed up the issues I can stop it (the car) now. It has eased the nerves a bit.”
Shane van Gisbergen maintained his impressive form to slot into third spot in the Tekno Autosports Commodore ahead of Scott McLaughlin and Jamie Whincup.
James Moffat ensured two Nissans ended the session in the top 10 in sixth, while Scot Pye, Tim Slade, David Reynolds and James Courtney rounded out the top 10.
The hit-out was red flagged twice with the first stoppage caused by Tim Blanchard who plunged into the wall at Turn 9.
Jason Bright brought the red flags out again with five minutes remaining when he locked up and found the wall at Turn 8.
Result: V8 Supercars Coates Hire Sydney 500 Practice 4
| 1 | Pepsi Max Crew | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:27.7117 | |
| 2 | Nissan Motorsport | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:27.8839 | 0:00.1722 |
| 3 | Team Darrell Lea STIX | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 1:27.8961 | 0:00.1844 |
| 4 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Volvo S60 | 1:27.9534 | 0:00.2417 |
| 5 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 1:27.9554 | 0:00.2437 |
| 6 | Nissan Motorsport | James Moffat | Nissan Altima | 1:28.0325 | 0:00.3208 |
| 7 | DJR Team Penske | Scott Pye | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:28.1547 | 0:00.4430 |
| 8 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.1704 | 0:00.4587 |
| 9 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:28.1925 | 0:00.4808 |
| 10 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.1967 | 0:00.4850 |
| 11 | Nissan Motorsport | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 1:28.3679 | 0:00.6562 |
| 12 | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Will Davison | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:28.5627 | 0:00.8510 |
| 13 | Super Black Racing | Chris Pither | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:28.6314 | 0:00.9197 |
| 14 | Freightliner Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.6362 | 0:00.9245 |
| 15 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.6755 | 0:00.9638 |
| 16 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.6765 | 0:00.9648 |
| 17 | Nissan Motorsport | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:28.7259 | 0:01.0142 |
| 18 | Pepsi Max Crew | Steve Owen | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:28.7653 | 0:01.0536 |
| 19 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.7796 | 0:01.0679 |
| 20 | GB Galvanizing Racing | Dale Wood | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.9493 | 0:01.2376 |
| 21 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | David Wall | Volvo S60 | 1:28.9502 | 0:01.2385 |
| 22 | Repair Management Aust Racing | Jack Perkins | Holden Commodore VF | 1:29.3808 | 0:01.6691 |
| 23 | Walkinshaw Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VF | 1:29.5816 | 0:01.8699 |
| 24 | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Alex Davison | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:29.7735 | 0:02.0618 |
| 25 | Team Cooldrive | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VF | 1:30.0821 | 0:02.3704 |
