Steel Guiliana has soared to the top in practice for the F3 round of the Australian driver's championship at Hidden Valley.
Guiliana's R-Tek Motorsport machine was quickest overall for the day with his 1:06.14s lap within striking distance of the lap record at the 2.9km circuit near Darwin.
The New South Wales driver sits second in the championship but has three fastest laps to his credit this year, underlying his significant pace.
Nick Foster, the former Formula Ford and Porsche Carrera Cup ace was second fastest. Foster had pipped Guiliana in the slower second session later by just 0.009s.
“Since the last round in Tasmania we have a direction with the car and now have the car performing like we know it can,” Foster explained.
“The car felt the best it's been from the moment we got on track in the first session, and there's more to come.
“We've had a lot of help from the head office in France and the car was much, much better today than it has been all season. I'm very pleased.”
Championship leader Tim Macrow was third overall, Nathan Morcom fourth and defending Darwin winner John Magro fifth in a day that saw the top eight covered by just 0.6s.
Kiwi driver Andre Heimgartner was seventh overall in his Erebus Academy-prepared Mygale chassis on his ‘wings and slicks' debut.