A late effort from Ford Performance Racing’s David Reynolds denied championship leader Jamie Whincup the top spot in Practice 3 at Sydney Olympic Park.
After a quiet first full-field practice earlier in the afternoon, Red Bull duo Whincup and Craig Lowndes ran one-two as the third session drew towards a close.
Reynolds split the pair with his penultimate lap before edging 0.14s ahead with a 1:28.34s after the chequered flag fell.
Lowndes meanwhile was bumped to seventh over the final minutes as Shane van Gisbergen, Todd Kelly, Fabian Coulthard and Scott McLaughlin all improved.
Lee Holdsworth’s Mercedes missed the session following his Practice 2 clout of the Turn 7 concrete.
The Erebus entry is expected to return for the fourth and final session later in the afternoon.
See below for full Practice 3 results
| 1 | The Bottle-O FPR Ford | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG | 13 1:28.3367* | |
| 2 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 13 1:28.4749 | 0:00.1382 |
| 3 | TEKNO Team VIP Petfoods | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 10 1:28.5802 | 0:00.2435 |
| 4 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 12 1:28.6449 | 0:00.3082 |
| 5 | Lockwood Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VF | 12 1:28.6737 | 0:00.3370 |
| 6 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Holden Commodore VF | 12 1:28.7163 | 0:00.3796 |
| 7 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 10 1:28.7419 | 0:00.4052 |
| 8 | Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford | Will Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 11 1:28.8191 | 0:00.4824 |
| 9 | Team HIFLEX | Tony D’Alberto | Holden Commodore VF | 8 1:28.8420 | 0:00.5053 |
| 10 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 7 1:28.8422 | 0:00.5055 |
| 11 | Heavy Haulage Australia Racing | Tim Slade | Mercedes E63 AMG | 10 1:28.9080 | 0:00.5713 |
| 12 | TEKNO Team Darrell Lea | Jonathon Webb | Holden Commodore VF | 12 1:28.9355 | 0:00.5988 |
| 13 | ekol Racing | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore VF | 12 1:29.0861 | 0:00.7494 |
| 14 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 11 1:29.1027 | 0:00.7660 |
| 15 | Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 10 1:29.2240 | 0:00.8873 |
| 16 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 10 1:29.2625 | 0:00.9258 |
| 17 | Wilson Security Racing | David Wall | Holden Commodore VF | 10 1:29.3128 | 0:00.9761 |
| 18 | Wilson Security Racing | Tim Blanchard | Ford Falcon FG | 11 1:29.4926 | 0:01.1559 |
| 19 | Norton Hornets | James Moffat | Nissan Altima | 11 1:29.5347 | 0:01.1980 |
| 20 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Alexandre Premat | Holden Commodore VF | 6 1:29.5451 | 0:01.2084 |
| 21 | SP Tools Racing | Maro Engel | Mercedes E63 AMG | 12 1:29.6244 | 0:01.2877 |
| 22 | Norton Hornets | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 7 1:29.6402 | 0:01.3035 |
| 23 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VF | 6 1:29.6443 | 0:01.3076 |
| 24 | Wilson Security Racing | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG | 8 1:29.7122 | 0:01.3755 |
| 25 | Jeld-wen FPR Ford | Alex Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 12 1:29.8915 | 0:01.5548 |
| 26 | Holden Racing Team | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | 4 1:29.9153 | 0:01.5786 |
| 27 | Dodo Insurance Racing | Dean Fiore | Holden Commodore VF | 8 1:30.3610 | 0:02.0243 |
