Expectations that Volvo can contend for victory in its first V8 Supercars race this evening have been further heightened by a strong performance from Scott McLaughlin in final practice.
The 20-year-old repeated his performance from Friday evening’s second qualifying session by again setting the second fastest time.
McLaughlin’s final lap of 1:20.94s proved just 0.007s shy of Fabian Coulthard’s benchmark in Practice 4.
The Lockwood Holden topped the order form the halfway mark, with Coulthard improving his own best time inside the final 10 minutes to cement the position.
Coulthard had also set the final quickest in Practice 3 on Friday before managing just 10th and 16th in the two qualifying sessions.
“The car feels pretty good,” he said after Practice 4.
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“We were a little unlucky in qualifying that the car didn’t generate the grip we expected, but it seems to be back to where it should be now.”
Jason Bright, Tim Slade, Michael Caruso, Jamie Whincup, Rick Kelly, Shane van Gisbegen, David Wall and Will Davison completed a top 10 that again saw all five manufacturers represented.
Todd Kelly meanwhile failed to complete a lap after his Altima dropped onto seven cylinders. A new VK56DE will be installed ahead of this evening’s races.
“It’s a shame because we had something new we wanted to try in the session,” said Kelly.
“It just went onto seven cylinders behind the pits and it’s not something we can fix (without changing the engine).”
See below for the full Practice 4 result
| 1 | Lockwood Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VF | 01:20.93 | |
| 2 | Valvoline Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Volvo S60 | 01:20.94 | 00:00.01 |
| 3 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 01:20.99 | 00:00.05 |
| 4 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 01:21.22 | 00:00.29 |
| 5 | Norton Hornets | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 01:21.31 | 00:00.38 |
| 6 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 01:21.37 | 00:00.43 |
| 7 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 01:21.43 | 00:00.50 |
| 8 | Team Tekno VIP Petfoods | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 01:21.48 | 00:00.54 |
| 9 | Wilson Security Racing | David Wall | Ford Falcon FG | 01:21.49 | 00:00.56 |
| 10 | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Will Davison | Mercedes E63 AMG | 01:21.55 | 00:00.62 |
| 11 | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Lee Holdsworth | Mercedes E63 AMG | 01:21.57 | 00:00.64 |
| 12 | Repair Management Aust Racing | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VF | 01:21.57 | 00:00.64 |
| 13 | Ford Pepsi Max Crew | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG | 01:21.71 | 00:00.78 |
| 14 | Norton Hornets | James Moffat | Nissan Altima | 01:21.79 | 00:00.86 |
| 15 | Wilson Security Racing | Scott Pye | Ford Falcon FG | 01:21.81 | 00:00.88 |
| 16 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 01:21.82 | 00:00.89 |
| 17 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 01:21.86 | 00:00.92 |
| 18 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 01:21.87 | 00:00.94 |
| 19 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG | 01:21.90 | 00:00.97 |
| 20 | Ford Pepsi Max Crew | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 01:21.96 | 00:01.03 |
| 21 | Team Advam/GB | Dale Wood | Holden Commodore VF | 01:22.11 | 00:01.18 |
| 22 | Team JELD-WEN | Jack Perkins | Ford Falcon FG | 01:22.15 | 00:01.22 |
| 23 | Valvoline Racing GRM | Robert Dahlgren | Volvo S60 | 01:22.26 | 00:01.33 |
| 24 | Walkinshaw Racing | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | 01:22.34 | 00:01.41 |
| Jack Daniel’s Racing | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima |
