Mark Winterbottom has ended the final practice session with the fastest time at the SKYCITY Triple Crown meeting at Darwin’s Hidden Valley circuit.
In a jumbled fourth and final session Winterbottom nabbed top spot with a 1:09.2649s.
Tim Slade led two Mercs into the top ten by finishing second in 1:09.4629s with Scott McLaughlin third fastest in 1:09.46.31s.
Slade’s Erebus team-mate Lee Holdsworth (IRWIN Racing) was eighth fastest.
Shane van Gisbergen in the VIP Petfoods Commodore was fourth fastest.
The session was a revelation for the Nissan squad with its quartet all filling placings in the top 10.
Michael Caruso (Norton 360 Racing) led the Japanese Altimas with the fifth fastest time ahead of team leader Todd Kelly with James Moffat and Rick Kelly.
Todd Kelly was the first one to dip under the 1:10 mark, with his 1:09.7027 remaining the time to beat before Scott McLaughlin pounced with eight minutes remaining.
There were a lot of front-runners absent from the top with teams protecting their tyre banks.
The Red Bull runners Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes were down in 15th and 23rd while Fabian Coulthard ended the session in 22nd.
A 20-minute qualifying session will be followed by a top 10 shootout ahead of the 21-lap.
See below for full results of Practice 4
| 1 | Mark Winterbottom | Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford | Ford Falcon FG | 1:09.2649 |
| 2 | Tim Slade | Heavy Haulage Australia Racing | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:09.4629 |
| 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.4631 |
| 4 | Shane Van Gisbergen | TEKNO Team VIP | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.5125 |
| 5 | Michael Caruso | Norton 360 Racing | Nissan Altima | 1:09.6451 |
| 6 | Todd Kelly | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Nissan Altima | 1:09.7027 |
| 7 | Alexandre Premat | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.8202 |
| 8 | Lee Holdsworth | Irwin Racing | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:09.8416 |
| 9 | James Moffat | Norton 360 Racing | Nissan Altima | 1:09.9385 |
| 10 | Rick Kelly | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Nissan Altima | 1:10.0177 |
| 11 | Jonathon Webb | Tekno Autosports | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.0312 |
| 12 | Dean Fiore | Dodo Insurance Racing | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.1404 |
| 13 | Scott Pye | ekol Racing | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.2462 |
| 14 | Jason Bright | Team BOC | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.3323 |
| 15 | Jamie Whincup | Red Bull Racing Australia | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.3507 |
| 16 | Garth Tander | Holden Racing Team | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.5451 |
| 17 | Russell Ingall | Supercheap Auto Racing | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.5876 |
| 18 | Tony D’Alberto | Team HIFLEX | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.5971 |
| 19 | David Wall | Wilson Security Racing | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.6187 |
| 20 | David Reynolds | The Bottle-O FPR Ford | Ford Falcon FG | 1:10.6842 |
| 21 | James Courtney | Holden Racing Team | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.6942 |
| 22 | Fabian Coulthard | Lockwood Racing | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.7944 |
| 23 | Craig Lowndes | Red Bull Racing Australia | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.9077 |
| 24 | Will Davison | Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford | Ford Falcon FG | 1:11.0589 |
| 25 | Maro Engel | SP Tools Racing | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:11.1262 |
| 26 | Chaz Mostert | Wilson Security Racing | Ford Falcon FG | 1:11.1339 |
| 27 | Tim Blanchard | Wilson Security Racing | Ford Falcon FG | 1:11.1959 |
| 28 | Alex Davison | Jeld-wen FPR Ford | Ford Falcon FG | 1:11.4243 |
