The #9 Tyrepower Racing driver set his quickest time on his seventh lap of Sandown Raceway, clocking a 1:08.2772s.

Brown was second for the lion’s share of the session but improved fractionally on his last lap to draw 0.0394s closer to the leading Chevrolet Camaro.

There was very little in the way of improvement late in the session, with just eight cars improving on their last or second-to-last lap.

“It was an interesting one,” said Le Brocq.

“I don’t know if the track sort of went away a little bit or what it was.

“It was a solid run for us, we tried a lot in that session and got a lot out of it. The guys are doing an awesome job, it’s a good way to start the weekend.

“Our test day was awesome last week, we learnt a lot from it and everything we found from that day we’re trying to implement here.”

The top three was completed by Andre Heimgartner who backed up his co-driver Declan Fraser’s efforts in Practice 2.

The R&J Batteries Racing car ended the day sixth, second, and third fastest across the three sessions.

Richie Stanaway was the standout for the Ford contingent, putting his Penrite Racing Mustang fourth overall and just 0.1662s off the pace.

Brown’s Red Bull Ampol Racing teammate Broc Feeney wound up fifth while the top 10 was completed by Thomas Randle (Castrol Racing), Brodie Kostecki (PowerPlay Racing), Chaz Mostert (Mobil 1 Optus Racing), Cameron Waters (Monster Energy Racing), and Matt Payne (Penrite Racing).

The session was relatively incident-free. Bryce Fullwood torched his left front tyre late in the 30-minute session and went off the road at Turn 1.

Results: Penrite Oil Sandown 500, Practice 3