Steve Richards put Ford Performance Racing ahead of arch rivals Red Bull in the co-driver’s only second practice session at Bathurst.

Warren Luff sat atop the order for much of the session, before team-mate Paul Dumbrell became the first man to lap in the 2:10s inside the final 10 minutes.

The top times remained stagnant until Richards’ last effort with just seconds remaining; his 2:10.55s effort proving quickest by 0.42s.

“We are battling a little with balance,” Richards told Speedcafe.com afterward, despite topping the session.

“But you only have to drop 10 degrees in ambient and track temperature and all of a sudden the balance will change.”

Steven Johnson was the fastest of the Mercedes runners in fourth, but it was team-mate Andrew Thompson who stole much of the attention with an early off at The Chase.

With debris having cut a brake line, the #47 Mercedes surfed through the gravel before making front-on contact with the tyre wall at an estimated 80km/h.

A lengthy red flag period was required to extract the HHA-backed entry from the gravel.

The second Mercedes, driven by Craig Baird, set the sixth fastest time, with the two Erebus entries sandwiching Taz Dougals’ lead Nissan.

Mattias Ekstrom was seventh in his very first look at Mount Panorama, while David Russell, Paul Morris and Steve Owen completed the top 10.

A third and final practice session for all drivers will complete today’s running.

See below for the full Practice 2 result