Waters clocked a 1:08.7478s with his 16th and final lap of the session to put the #6 Monster Energy Ford Mustang on top of the table.

Mostert was just 0.1445s off the pace in the #25 Mobil 1 Optus Racing Ford Mustang while David Reynolds was the quickest of the Chevrolet Camaros for Team 18 in third.

“It was fast once all the oil and stuff cleaned up at the last corner, I thought I was on a speedway track,” said Waters.

“It was pretty good conditions out there, a little bit breezy, the sun’s out which was nice, but a good way to start our Sandown 500.”

Moffat added: “It’s always nice when you finish a session on top, so Cam did a good. Hopefully we can keep it there for the rest of the weekend.”

Tickford Racing’s Thomas Randle was fourth in the TOM’S Racing-inspired colour scheme that he’ll share with Tyler Everingham.

Changes to Sandown Raceway mean Turn 4 and Turn 8 are slightly faster with a wider entry kerb. As it stands, Brodie Kostecki has the Practice/Qualifying lap record on a 1:08.4550s.

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Chevrolets occupied fifth through 10th led by Mark Winterbottom (#18 Tradie Beer), Andre Heimgartner (#8 R&J Batteries), Jack Le Brocq (#9 SS Signs), Nick Percat (#10 Bendix), Will Brown (#87 Red Bull Ampol), and Cameron Hill (#4 SP Tools).

The new-look Matt Payne/Garth Tander #19 Penrite Racing Ford Mustang suffered power steering issues on the out-lap. The team thought they had the issue resolved but returned to the pits for further inspections.

That car completed just 12 laps and wound up 21st overall. The sister #26 Ford Mustang shared by Richie Stanaway and Dale Wood was 18th.

“We had a bit of a burning smell coming out of (Turn) 9 and then the power steering let go on the front straight,” said Payne.

“The boys did a really good job to get it fixed, I think it was a fitting or something like that.

“We ran on in our session, managed to get a few runs in, it was really good.”

Results: Penrite Oil Sandown 500, Practice 1