Scott McLaughlin excited his local crowd by eclipsing Jamie Whincup for the top spot in the dying seconds of final practice at Pukekohe.
After a messy qualifying session and opening lap left him fighting through the pack in Race 10, McLaughlin showed the Volvo’s true speed in Practice 2.
His 1:02.90s effort, set after the chequered flag fell, proved 0.22s quicker than that of Whincup.
Whincup had earlier bumped team-mate Craig Lowndes from the top spot with 60 seconds remaining, bouncing back from his power steering problems in Race 10.
Chaz Mostert was able to split the Red Bull duo before the end of the 30 minutes.
James Courtney, Shane van Gisbergen, Fabian Coulthard, James Moffat, Lee Holdsworth and Scott Pye completed the top 10 after several elected to end their program with a green tyre run.
The session ran without incident, save for a minor early off for Garth Tander that saw the HRT Commodore nudge the tyre wall at Turn 4 before rejoining unscathed.
Back-to-back qualifying sessions for Races 11 and 12 of the championship will take place from 11:30 local time.
TIMES: Practice 2 – ITM 500 Auckland : Pukekohe Park Raceway
| Position | Car | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Difference |
| 1 | 33 | Scott McLaughlin | Valvoline Racing GRM | Volvo S60 | 1:02.8997 | |
| 2 | 1 | Jamie Whincup | Red Bull Racing Australia | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.1172 | 0:00.2175 |
| 3 | 6 | Chaz Mostert | Ford Pepsi Max Crew | Ford Falcon FG | 1:03.1516 | 0:00.2519 |
| 4 | 888 | Craig Lowndes | Red Bull Racing Australia | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.1850 | 0:00.2853 |
| 5 | 22 | James Courtney | Holden Racing Team | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.2300 | 0:00.3303 |
| 6 | 97 | Shane Van Gisbergen | Team Tekno VIP Petfoods | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.2326 | 0:00.3329 |
| 7 | 14 | Fabian Coulthard | Lockwood Racing | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.2532 | 0:00.3535 |
| 8 | 360 | James Moffat | Norton Hornets | Nissan Altima | 1:03.2734 | 0:00.3737 |
| 9 | 4 | Lee Holdsworth | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:03.3334 | 0:00.4337 |
| 10 | 16 | Scott Pye | Wilson Security Racing | Ford Falcon FG | 1:03.3614 | 0:00.4617 |
| 11 | 9 | Will Davison | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:03.4265 | 0:00.5268 |
| 12 | 18 | Jack Perkins | Team JELD-WEN | Ford Falcon FG | 1:03.5327 | 0:00.6330 |
| 13 | 5 | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Pepsi Max Crew | Ford Falcon FG | 1:03.5394 | 0:00.6397 |
| 14 | 8 | Jason Bright | Team BOC | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.5862 | 0:00.6865 |
| 15 | 2 | Garth Tander | Holden Racing Team | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.5927 | 0:00.6930 |
| 16 | 15 | Rick Kelly | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Nissan Altima | 1:03.7201 | 0:00.8204 |
| 17 | 36 | Michael Caruso | Norton Hornets | Nissan Altima | 1:03.7311 | 0:00.8314 |
| 18 | 34 | Robert Dahlgren | Valvoline Racing GRM | Volvo S60 | 1:03.7334 | 0:00.8337 |
| 19 | 7 | Todd Kelly | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Volvo S60 | 1:02.8997 | 0:00.8396 |
| 20 | 222 | Nick Percat | Walkinshaw Racing | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.1172 | 0:00.8543 |
| 21 | 23 | Russell Ingall | Repair Management Aust Racing | Ford Falcon FG | 1:03.1516 | 0:00.8647 |
| 22 | 55 | David Reynolds | The Bottle-O Racing Team | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.1850 | 0:00.8669 |
| 23 | 47 | Tim Slade | Supercheap Auto Racing | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.2300 | 0:00.8686 |
| 24 | 21 | Dale Wood | Team Advam/GB | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.2326 | 0:00.9004 |
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