The third V8 Supercars practice session at the Sucrogen Townsville 400 has ended early following a crash from Kelly Racing’s guest driver Jacques Villeneuve.
The 1997 Formula 1 World Champion became stuck in the tyre barrier at the exit of Turn 3 with just 18 seconds remaining.
The #51 Commodore suffered minor front-end damage in the incident and is expected to be repaired in time for this afternoon’s final hit-out.
The red flags ensured Jamie Whincup would end the session with the fastest time.
The TeamVodafone driver sat atop the times for the majority of the session, setting his best of 1:13.54s prior to the halfway mark.
Lee Holdsworth moved to within 0.10s of the championship leader in the closing stages, while Rick Kelly, David Reynolds, Russell Ingall, Craig Lowndes, Todd Kelly, Steve Owen, Will Davison and James Moffat rounded out the top 10.
Prior to his mistake, Villeneuve had taken a further 1.1s from his Practice 2 best to lap within 2.3s of Whincup.
The final red flag was the second of the session, with debris at Turn 12 having caused an early stoppage.
As usual, tyre condition played a large role in the final result, with title contender Mark Winterbottom finishing the session down in just 25th position.
The fourth and final practice session of the day will get underway at 1435 local time.
See below for the full Practice 3 times
| 1 | TeamVodafone | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:13.5371 | |
| 2 | Irwin Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Ford Falcon FG | 1:13.6378 | 0:00.1007 |
| 3 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Rick Kelly | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:13.6965 | 0:00.1594 |
| 4 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG | 1:13.7523 | 0:00.2152 |
| 5 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:13.7798 | 0:00.2427 |
| 6 | TeamVodafone | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:13.8240 | 0:00.2869 |
| 7 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Todd Kelly | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:13.8750 | 0:00.3379 |
| 8 | VIP Petfoods | Steve Owen | Ford Falcon FG | 1:13.8980 | 0:00.3609 |
| 9 | Trading Post FPR Ford | Will Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 1:13.9185 | 0:00.3814 |
| 10 | Team Norton DJR | James Moffat | Ford Falcon FG | 1:13.9249 | 0:00.3878 |
| 11 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:14.0914 | 0:00.5543 |
| 12 | SP Tools Racing | Shane Van Gisbergen | Ford Falcon FG | 1:14.1403 | 0:00.6032 |
| 13 | Tekno Autosports | Jonathon Webb | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:14.1549 | 0:00.6178 |
| 14 | Jim Beam Racing | Steven Johnson | Ford Falcon FG | 1:14.1836 | 0:00.6465 |
| 15 | Jim Beam Racing | Dean Fiore | Ford Falcon FG | 1:14.1898 | 0:00.6527 |
| 16 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:14.3263 | 0:00.7892 |
| 17 | Team iSelect | Taz Douglas | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:14.4107 | 0:00.8736 |
| 18 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Alexandre Premat | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:14.4510 | 0:00.9139 |
| 19 | Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing | Karl Reindler | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:14.4548 | 0:00.9177 |
| 20 | Lucky 7 Racing | Tim Slade | Ford Falcon FG | 1:14.5572 | 0:01.0201 |
| 21 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:14.6725 | 0:01.1354 |
| 22 | Wilson Security Racing | David Wall | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:14.7216 | 0:01.1845 |
| 23 | Lockwood Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:15.0853 | 0:01.5482 |
| 24 | Team Hiflex | Tony D’Alberto | Ford Falcon FG | 1:15.1721 | 0:01.6350 |
| 25 | Orrcon Steel FPR Ford | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 1:15.2439 | 0:01.7068 |
| 26 | Tekno Autosports | Michael Patrizi | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:15.3901 | 0:01.8530 |
| 27 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Michael Caruso | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:15.3938 | 0:01.8567 |
| 28 | Pepsi Max Crew | Jaques Villeneuve | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:15.7374 | 0:02.2003 |
See below for Speedcafe.com’s Sucrogen Townsville 400 Race Guide
See below for Speedcafe.com’s Race Guide for the British Grand Prix, which is also taking place this weekend
