Jamie Whincup has set the fastest time of the day to top the fourth and final practice session for the V8 Supercars at Winton Motor Raceway.
The TeamVodafone driver, who could secure his fourth V8 Supercars title tomorrow, clocked a 1:23.77s time on his first lap of the final 30 minute hit-out.
The effort put Whincup as much as 0.8s clear of the field and would prove unbeatable, with even the man himself falling short after going fastest to the first sector on his final attempt.
Tony D’Alberto came closest to eclipsing the time inside the final two minutes – his best effort just 0.25s slower.
The Hiflex Ford driver was one of several drivers to enjoy a healthy bank of pre-marked soft tyres to practice on today having missed the majority of the Gold Coast meeting late last month due to a start-line accident.
Michael Caruso, Mark Winterbottom, Will Davison, Jason Bright, James Moffat, Lee Holdsworth, David Reynolds and Fabian Coulthard completed the top 10 after a session that ran without incident under sunny skies at the rural Victorian venue.
Whincup’s team-mate Craig Lowndes was surprisingly off the pace, ending the session almost a full second adrift of the pace-setter in 20th.
The V8 Supercars will return to the track for qualifying tomorrow ahead of Race 27.
Result: V8 Supercars Practice 4, Winton Motor Raceway
| 1 | TeamVodafone | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:23.7726 | |
| 2 | Team Hiflex | Tony D’Alberto | Ford Falcon FG | 1:24.0209 | 0:00.2483 |
| 3 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Michael Caruso | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:24.0734 | 0:00.3008 |
| 4 | Orrcon Steel FPR Ford | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 1:24.1140 | 0:00.3414 |
| 5 | Trading Post FPR Ford | Will Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 1:24.1747 | 0:00.4021 |
| 6 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:24.2124 | 0:00.4398 |
| 7 | Team Norton DJR | James Moffat | Ford Falcon FG | 1:24.2242 | 0:00.4516 |
| 8 | Irwin Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Ford Falcon FG | 1:24.2347 | 0:00.4621 |
| 9 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG | 1:24.2608 | 0:00.4882 |
| 10 | Lockwood Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:24.2886 | 0:00.5160 |
| 11 | SP Tools Racing | Shane Van Gisbergen | Ford Falcon FG | 1:24.3166 | 0:00.5440 |
| 12 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Alexandre Premat | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:24.3416 | 0:00.5690 |
| 13 | Pepsi Max Crew | Greg Murphy | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:24.5271 | 0:00.7545 |
| 14 | Lucky 7 Racing | Tim Slade | Ford Falcon FG | 1:24.5364 | 0:00.7638 |
| 15 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:24.5950 | 0:00.8224 |
| 16 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:24.6447 | 0:00.8721 |
| 17 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:24.6453 | 0:00.8727 |
| 18 | Wilson Security Racing | David Wall | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:24.6643 | 0:00.8917 |
| 19 | Tekno Autosports | Jonathon Webb | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:24.6644 | 0:00.8918 |
| 20 | TeamVodafone | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:24.6825 | 0:00.9099 |
| 21 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Rick Kelly | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:24.7682 | 0:00.9956 |
| 22 | Jim Beam Racing | Steven Johnson | Ford Falcon FG | 1:24.8618 | 0:01.0892 |
| 23 | VIP Petfoods | Steve Owen | Ford Falcon FG | 1:24.9599 | 0:01.1873 |
| 24 | Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing | Karl Reindler | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:25.1722 | 0:01.3996 |
| 25 | Jim Beam Racing | Dean Fiore | Ford Falcon FG | 1:25.4277 | 0:01.6551 |
| 26 | Team iSelect | Taz Douglas | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:25.4955 | 0:01.7229 |
| 27 | Tekno Autosports | Michael Patrizi | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:25.6351 | 0:01.8625 |
| 28 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:25.7639 | 0:01.9913 |
See below for Speedcafe.com’s Winton Race Guide
