Volvo’s Scott McLaughlin edged the Holden Racing Team’s James Courtney to set the fastest time in the opening V8 Supercars session of the season at the Clipsal 500 Adelaide.
McLaughlin recorded a 1:20.79s best in the dying stages of the 40 minute run to eclipse the 2010 champion by 0.033s.
Craig Lowndes was just 0.0006s further back in third following a flurry of late times on new hard compound rubber.
Red Bull team-mates Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen led the way for much of the session while teams ran the best of their pre-marked hards.
Times began to tumble in the final 10 minutes, with Jason Bright the first to eclipse Whincup’s 1:21.38s benchmark.
McLaughlin was the first into the 1:20s soon after and, while Courtney moved to the top with just a minute to go, the Volvo driver proved able to respond with a final lap of his own.
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Van Gisbergen’s last lap netted fourth in the order, while Whincup was just 15th after a kerb strike infringement during his final run.
Rick Kelly gave Nissan hope for the new season with fifth ahead of DJR Team Penske pair Scott Pye and Fabian Coulthard, while Tim Slade, Michael Caruso and Garth Tander completed the top 10.
A second 40 minute practice session will take place from 1320 local time ahead of two qualifying sessions later in the afternoon.
Result: V8 Supercars Clipsal 500 Adelaide Practice 1
| 1 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Volvo S60 | 1:20.7880 | |
| 2 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 1:20.8211 | 00.0331 |
| 3 | Team Vortex | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 1:20.8217 | 00.0337 |
| 4 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 1:20.8315 | 00.0435 |
| 5 | Nissan Motorsport | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:20.8904 | 00.1024 |
| 6 | DJR Team Penske | Scott Pye | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:20.9551 | 00.1671 |
| 7 | DJR Team Penske | Fabian Coulthard | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:21.0236 | 00.2356 |
| 8 | Freightliner Racing | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 1:21.0707 | 00.2827 |
| 9 | Nissan Motorsport | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 1:21.0961 | 00.3081 |
| 10 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 1:21.1085 | 00.3205 |
| 11 | carsales Racing | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:21.1291 | 00.3411 |
| 12 | Preston Hire Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VF | 1:21.1639 | 00.3759 |
| 13 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 1:21.2975 | 00.5095 |
| 14 | Erebus Motorsport Penrite | David Reynolds | Holden Commodore VF | 1:21.3028 | 00.5148 |
| 15 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 1:21.3830 | 00.5950 |
| 16 | LD Motorsports | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | 1:21.4830 | 00.6950 |
| 17 | LD Motorsports | Andre Heimgartner | Holden Commodore VF | 1:21.6723 | 00.8843 |
| 18 | Team Darrell Lea STIX | Will Davison | Holden Commodore VF | 1:21.7473 | 00.9593 |
| 19 | Prodrive Racing Australia | Cameron Waters | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:21.7499 | 00.9619 |
| 20 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:22.0293 | 01.2413 |
| 21 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | James Moffat | Volvo S60 | 1:22.0498 | 01.2618 |
| 22 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:22.0624 | 01.2744 |
| 23 | Team Cooldrive | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VF | 1:22.2574 | 01.4694 |
| 24 | GB Galvanizing Racing | Dale Wood | Nissan Altima | 1:22.4747 | 01.6867 |
| 25 | Superblack Racing | Chris Pither | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:23.1505 | 02.3625 |
| 26 | Plus Fitness Racing | Aaren Russell | Holden Commodore VF | 1:23.8114 | 03.0234 |
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