A day after teammate Nick Percat scored the squad’s second win of the season, Hill recorded a 51.1730s best to end the 20 minute session fastest.

“If only that was qualifying,” said the Canberra native, who finished a fine sixth in the Saturday race.

“The car feels really good. We obviously had a great car yesterday. We tried a few things this morning and every change we made I think was a positive one.

“Just got to go through the three stages (of qualifying) and try and do it again.” 

Triple Eight’s Broc Feeney was just 0.0415s adrift of Hill in second place, while Brad Jones Racing pair Andre Heimgartner and Bryce Fullwood completed the top four.

Will Davison was the fastest of the Fords in fifth ahead of Chaz Mostert.

The Walkinshaw Andretti United driver emerged unscathed from the wildest moment of the session, carving through the gravel on the inside of Turn 2 after a lock-up.

Teams used the 20-minute hit-out to make setup changes and practice pit stops ahead of today’s qualifying and race.

At the bottom of the order was Tim Slade, who endured engine problems in the PremiAir Racing Camaro he drove to a top 10 finish on Saturday.

“We ran on an older set of tyres at the start and then came in to change to a better tyre,” he explained.

“Just as I came out of the throttle to come into the lane, it felt a little bit funny but I wasn’t sure if my mind was playing tricks on itself or not.

“I exited the lane and then it literally felt like it was down a cylinder or a spark plug lead was off.

“I came in, the guys had a look at it. They suspected a lead might have unclipped, (but) I went out, it felt good for a lap and it happened again.

“It’s a bit inconclusive at the moment but the engine guys are having a look now.”

Qualifying is scheduled for 12:50pm local time.

Results: NED Whiskey Tasmania SuperSprint, Practice 3