Red Bull Racing Australia’s Jamie Whincup moved to the top of the order in Practice 3 ahead of back-to-back qualifying sessions at the Clipsal 500.

Just 15th in the second practice session, Whincup proved the first man able to lap in the 1:20s bracket during Practice 3.

The six-time champion clocked a 1:20.92s best on his penultimate run, before falling just 0.02s short of improving that benchmark further in the closing stages.

Tim Slade was one of several to set late fast times, clocking the second quickest lap, 0.14s in arrears of Whincup.

Slade’s Walkinshaw team-mate Lee Holdsworth was third ahead of Jason Bright, who ended the session in the Turn 5 gravel trap.

Bright’s error brought out the red flags with less than two minutes remaining, ensuring that there would be no restart.

“We’re trying to make gains and we probably made two steps back trying to take one forward,” said Whincup of the earlier running.

“We’re there or thereabouts. It’s still not perfect so we’ll have to see where we are when everyone puts greens on.”

Slade was also buoyed by his strong run but cautious of bold predictions ahead of qualifying the two 10 minute qualifying sessions, which will set the grid for Saturday’s two races.

“It gives us a bit of confidence heading into qualifying,” he said.

“We have felt a bit rushed and behind the eight ball today. We had a bit of a gearbox drama in that first session and have been a bit out of sync with everyone in terms of tyres

“If we can continue this in qualifying we’ll obviously be pretty happy.”

Marcos Ambrose continued his challenging transition back into V8 Supercars, ending the session 17th of 24 runners.

Tim Blanchard missed the session while his Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport crew attended to a power steering issue.

The first of the two qualifying sessions will get underway at 1535 local time.

VIDEO: Practice 3 highlights

Result: V8 Supercars Practice 3, Clipsal 500 Adelaide 

1

Red Bull Racing Australia

Jamie Whincup

Holden Commodore VF

01:20.92

2

Supercheap Auto Racing

Tim Slade

Holden Commodore VF

01:21.06

00:00.14

3

Walkinshaw Racing

Lee Holdsworth

Holden Commodore VF

01:21.30

00:00.37

4

Team BOC

Jason Bright

Holden Commodore VF

01:21.35

00:00.43

5

Pepsi Max Crew

Chaz Mostert

Ford Falcon FG/X

01:21.37

00:00.44

6

Holden Racing Team

Garth Tander

Holden Commodore VF

01:21.59

00:00.67

7

Red Bull Racing Australia

Craig Lowndes

Holden Commodore VF

01:21.60

00:00.67

8

Nissan Motorsport

Rick Kelly

Nissan Altima

01:21.62

00:00.70

9

Super Black Racing

Andre Heimgartner

Ford Falcon FG

01:21.67

00:00.75

10

Wilson Security Racing GRM

Scott McLaughlin

Volvo S60

01:21.70

00:00.77

11

Nissan Motorsport

Todd Kelly

Nissan Altima

01:21.74

00:00.82

12

Nissan Motorsport

Michael Caruso

Nissan Altima

01:21.76

00:00.83

13

The Bottle-O Racing Team

David Reynolds

Ford Falcon FG

01:21.84

00:00.91

14

Holden Racing Team

James Courtney

Holden Commodore VF

01:21.85

00:00.92

15

Pepsi Max Crew

Mark Winterbottom

Ford Falcon FG/X

01:21.87

00:00.95

16

Nissan Mororsport

James Moffat

Nissan Altima

01:21.88

00:00.96

17

DJR Team Penske

Marcos Ambrose

Ford Falcon FG/X

01:21.88

00:00.96

18

Team TEKNO Darrell Lea

Shane Van Gisbergen

Holden Commodore VF

01:21.98

00:01.05

19

Repair Management Aust Racing

Nick Percat

Holden Commodore VF

01:22.07

00:01.14

20

Erebus Motorsport V8

Will Davison

Mercedes E63 AMG

01:22.07

00:01.15

21

Freightliner Racing

Fabian Coulthard

Holden Commodore VF

01:22.09

00:01.17

22

Erebus Motorsport V8

Ashley Walsh

Mercedes E63 AMG

01:22.28

00:01.35

23

Wilson Security Racing GRM

David Wall

Volvo S60

01:22.63

00:01.71

24

Team GB Galvanizing

Dale Wood

Holden Commodore VF

01:22.84

00:01.92