Whincup heads Red Bull one-two in Practice 3

Jamie Whincup has topped final practice session ahead qualifying for the Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint with team-mate Shane van Gisbergen second fastest.

Whincup set his best time late in the session, stealing top spot from van Gisbergen who had held the best time for much of the 20-minute session.

“Yesterday we had a big tail wind down the back straight so you were crazy deep into the hairpin but then it was hard to pull up at the end of the back straight,” Whincup said.

“Now it’s the complete opposite, so you have to be a bit careful into the hairpin but then go super deep down the back.

“To go faster, yesterday’s conditions were great, that’s why we were in the big times. It doesn’t really matter what the time is, (I’m) just trying to be quicker than everyone else.

“Cauchi made a bit of a tune-up over night, it’s a little bit better which is nice. We’ll see what happens in qualifying.”

As the session started, van Gisbergen picked up where Triple Eight left off on Friday, recording the fastest time.

He was the first to dip into the 50-second bracket, initially a tenth clear of Tim Slade who was in turn a tenth clear of Fabian Coulthard.

Nissan drivers Michael Caruso and Rick Kelly also showed early pace, slotting in fourth and fifth fastest after the first foray on track by all cars before dropping outside of the top ten.

A 51.236s effort saw Whincup climb 10 places on his second run on track, coming at the halfway point of the session.

Garth Tander also improved on his early lap, the GRM Commodore driver edging Slade to move briefly into second fastest.

Reynolds then banked a better lap with seven minutes remaining, a 51.019s just 0.03s faster than Tander’s efforts minutes earlier to move him into second behind van Gisbergen.

Shortly afterwards Reynolds found himself baulked by van Gisbergen as the pair entered Turn 3, the Erebus driver just avoiding the back of the Red Bull Commodore.

“I mucked up my lap and just carried on, but the corner was ruined and got in his way,” van Gisbergen explained.

“Whatever, it’s practice, I’m sorry to wreck his lap, but anyway, It’s practice, who cares?”

Reynolds said, “Luckily I’ve got cat like reflexes because I saved my car and his car.

“I’m not sure what he was thinking, don’t know, I think Craig has to have a chat to him.”

Whincup ended van Gisbergen’s time at the top with three minutes remaining, banking a 50.740s to move nearly two tenths quicker than his team-mate.

An impressive lap from Todd Hazelwood saw the rookie leap into fourth fastest with two minutes remaining, though was quickly demoted as Scott McLaughlin improved his personal best to slot into third, with Hazelwood fifth at the flag.

In the closing moments van Gisbergen improved, though not enough to demote Whincup from top spot, leaving Red Bull with a one-two for the final practice session.

Craig Lowndes ended the session just inside the top 10, while Simona de Silvestro was nearly 1.2s off the pace with the slowest time ahead of qualifying.

A busy program for James Courtney saw the Walkinshaw Andretti United driver bank 20 laps, the most of any driver, while Tickford Racing’s Cam Waters and Chaz Mostert recorded just 11 laps each.

Results: Practice 3