Jamie Whincup has finished fastest in Practice 4 at the Perth SuperSprint but Scott McLaughlin will have to start the first part of Qualifying for Race 11 later this morning.
The Red Bull Holden Racing Team driver leapt up from very last to the top of the timesheets in the second-last of 20 minutes with a time of 0:55.2686s on new tyres.
McLaughlin, on the other hand, was running around on somewhat used tyres for his final run but couldn’t improve enough to stay in the top 10 and finished 12th in the #17 Shell V-Power Falcon.
“We didn’t run greens,” confirmed the Race 11 winner.
“I don’t know whether other people did or not. Maybe we got caught out by that.
“I had a fair bit of push there too. I’m confident we can come through in the three runs, but I think we just missed the boat there.”
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McLaughlin’s DJR Team Penske team-mate Fabian Coulthard fared even worse in 21st position, nearly 0.7s off the pace.
Chaz Mostert ended up just 0.0429s off top spot in the Supercheap Auto Racing Falcon, while Practice 3 fast man Will Davison was just over a hundredth of a second slower again in the Tickford-built Milwaukee Racing Falcon.
The next three of Shane van Gisbergen (Triple Eight Commodore) and Brad Jones Racing’s Nick Percat (Coregas Commodore) and Tim Slade (Freightliner Commodore) were also within 0.1s of Whincup’s best.
David Reynolds was seventh-fastest in the Erebus Penrite Commodore from two Nissans in the form of Rick Kelly (Castrol Racing Altima) and Andre Heimgartner (Plus Fitness Altima).
Their team-mate Michael Caruso (Drive Altima) just missed the cut with a time 0.0525s slower than rookie James Golding’s (Wilson Security GRM Commodore) fastest.
Other notables outside the top 10 were Craig Lowndes (Autobarn Commodore) in 17th, Race 11 runner-up Mark Winterbottom (The Bottle-O Falcon) in 19th, and the two Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Commodores bringing up the rear (25th James Courtney, 26th Scott Pye).
The session began with all but Todd Hazelwood (Bigmate Falcon) and Tim Blanchard (Cooldrive Commodore) on wets after earlier rain.
They were first and second respectively before the rest of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship field bolted on slicks for their respective second runs, when lap times began to tumble.
Rain, however, could return later in the day.
Armor All Qualifying for Race 12 starts from 1120 local time/1320 AEST.
Results: Practice 4
| 1 | Red Bull Holden Racing Team | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore ZB | 0:55.2686*SS | |
| 2 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG/X | 0:55.3115 SS | 00.0429 |
| 3 | Milwaukee Racing | Will Davison | Ford Falcon FG/X | 0:55.3226 SS | 00.0540 |
| 4 | Red Bull Holden Racing Team | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore ZB | 0:55.3315 SS | 00.0629 |
| 5 | Blackwoods Racing | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore ZB | 0:55.3442 SS | 00.0756 |
| 6 | Freightliner Racing | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore ZB | 0:55.3464 SS | 00.0778 |
| 7 | Erebus Penrite Racing | David Reynolds | Holden Commodore ZB | 0:55.4220 SS | 00.1534 |
| 8 | Castrol Racing | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 0:55.5771 SS | 00.3085 |
| 9 | Plus Fitness Racing | Andre Heimgartner | Nissan Altima | 0:55.5772 SS | 00.3086 |
| 10 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | James Golding | Holden Commodore ZB | 0:55.6000 SS | 00.3314 |
| 11 | Drive Racing | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 0:55.6525 SS | 00.3839 |
| 12 | Shell V-Power Racing Team | Scott McLaughlin | Ford Falcon FG/X | 0:55.6849 SS | 00.4163 |
| 13 | Team CoolDrive | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore ZB | 0:55.7012 SS | 00.4326 |
| 14 | Preston Hire Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore ZB | 0:55.7468 SS | 00.4782 |
| 15 | Erebus Thermosphere Racing | Anton de Pasquale | Holden Commodore ZB | 0:55.7701 SS | 00.5015 |
| 16 | MEGA Racing | Richie Stanaway | Ford Falcon FG/X | 0:55.7736 SS | 00.5050 |
| 17 | Autobarn Lowndes Racing | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore ZB | 0:55.7991 SS | 00.5305 |
| 18 | Bigmate Racing | Todd Hazelwood | Ford Falcon FG/X | 0:55.8020 SS | 00.5334 |
| 19 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG/X | 0:55.8580 SS | 00.5894 |
| 20 | Monster Energy Racing | Cameron Waters | Ford Falcon FG/X | 0:55.8600 SS | 00.5914 |
| 21 | Shell V-Power Racing Team | Fabian Coulthard | Ford Falcon FG/X | 0:55.9270 SS | 00.6584 |
| 22 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore ZB | 0:55.9612 SS | 00.6926 |
| 23 | Team Harvey Norman | Simona De Silvestro | Nissan Altima | 0:56.0865 SS | 00.8179 |
| 24 | Tekno Autosport | Jack Le Brocq | Holden Commodore ZB | 0:56.1077 SS | 00.8391 |
| 25 | Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing | James Courtney | Holden Commodore ZB | 0:56.1610 SS | 00.8924 |
| 26 | Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore ZB | 0:56.4883 SS | 01.2197 |
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