A last gasp effort has seen Mark Winterbottom knock Jamie Whincup from the top of the time sheets in the first all-in V8 Supercars practice session of the season.
Whincup set a 1:21.93s benchmark during his first run, a time which saw the TeamVodafone Commodore remain on top until the very end of the session.
Winterbottom had been fourth for much of the 30 minutes, before moving to second with a 1:22.21s on his penultimate lap, and then eclipsing Whincup with a 1:21.81s after the chequered flag fell.
Jamie Whincup, Will Davison, Rick Kelly and Will Davison ended the session filling second through fifth, with all four drivers having set their fastest times in the opening 10 minutes.
The red flags appeared with little over five minutes remaining in the 30 session thanks to debris on the circuit.
Alexandre Premat continued his strong form from this morning with the 10th fastest time, while team-mate Michael Caruso was 19th after suffering a flat left-front tyre, believed to have been caused by contact with the Turn 1 tyre bundle.
James Moffat also found himself in trouble early in the session, with the Norton Falcon spun by Jonathon Webb at the final corner.
Practice 4 will commence at 1330 local time.
See below for the full Practice 3 times.
| 1 | Orrcon Steel FPR Ford | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 1:21.8112 | |
| 2 | TeamVodafone | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:21.9315 | 0:00.1203 |
| 3 | Trading Post FPR Ford | Will Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 1:22.2533 | 0:00.4421 |
| 4 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Rick Kelly | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:22.3514 | 0:00.5402 |
| 5 | Tony D’Alberto Racing | Tony D’Alberto | Ford Falcon FG | 1:22.5263 | 0:00.7151 |
| 6 | Lucky 7 Racing | Tim Slade | Ford Falcon FG | 1:22.5301 | 0:00.7189 |
| 7 | TeamVodafone | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:22.5536 | 0:00.7424 |
| 8 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG | 1:22.5608 | 0:00.7496 |
| 9 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:22.6114 | 0:00.8002 |
| 10 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Alexandre Premat | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:22.6558 | 0:00.8446 |
| 11 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:22.6853 | 0:00.8741 |
| 12 | Tekno Autosports | Jonathon Webb | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:22.6902 | 0:00.8790 |
| 13 | Team Norton DJR | James Moffat | Ford Falcon FG | 1:22.6952 | 0:00.8840 |
| 14 | Irwin Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Ford Falcon FG | 1:22.7368 | 0:00.9256 |
| 15 | SP Tools Racing | Shane Van Gisbergen | Ford Falcon FG | 1:22.8058 | 0:00.9946 |
| 16 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Todd Kelly | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:22.8299 | 0:01.0187 |
| 17 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:22.9107 | 0:01.0995 |
| 18 | Jim Beam Racing | Steven Johnson | Ford Falcon FG | 1:22.9176 | 0:01.1064 |
| 19 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Michael Caruso | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:22.9862 | 0:01.1750 |
| 20 | Jim Beam Racing | Dean Fiore | Ford Falcon FG | 1:23.0092 | 0:01.1980 |
| 21 | Lockwood Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:23.0316 | 0:01.2204 |
| 22 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:23.0375 | 0:01.2263 |
| 23 | Team iSelect | Taz Douglas | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:23.1583 | 0:01.3471 |
| 24 | Pepsi Max Crew | Greg Murphy | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:23.3589 | 0:01.5477 |
| 25 | V.I.P. Petfoods | Steve Owen | Ford Falcon FG | 1:23.7352 | 0:01.9240 |
| 26 | Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing | Karl Reindler | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:24.1125 | 0:02.3013 |
| 27 | Tekno Autosports | Michael Patrizi | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:24.1564 | 0:02.3452 |
| 28 | Wilson Security Racing | David Wall | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:24.4175 | 0:02.6063 |
See below for Speedcafe.com’s Clipsal 500 Adelaide Race Guide
