Mercedes outpaces Whincup in V8 practice

Departing Mercedes driver Lee Holdsworth has set the early pace during practice for the Sydney 500 ahead of his 300th V8 Supercars race start.

Holdsworth, in his last round for Erebus Motorsport, was fastest in Friday’s second session with a lap of 1min 28.8839 seconds.

Holden’s champion-elect Jamie Whincup, quickest earlier in the day, was 0.06secs behind, followed by Ford’s David Reynolds, Shane van Gisbergen’s Holden and Michael Caruso of Nissan.

Whincup’s Red Bull Racing teammate Craig Lowndes, battling for 2014 runner-up honours with van Gisbergen and Mark Winterbottom, was 10th on the timesheets.

Winterbottom was almost two seconds off the lead pace in 24th – slower than returning star Marcos Ambrose, who’s never before raced the Sydney Olympic Park street track.

This weekend marks the first time Ambrose has raced in V8 Supercars since leaving for America’s NASCAR series in 2005.

He is steering a wildcard entry for Dick Johnson Racing in preparation for his full-time drive with the newly-formed DJR Team Penske next year.

Ambrose shaved nearly 0.1secs off the time he set in his first outing on Friday morning.

Three cars suffered damage in the midday session – Jason Bright, Fabian Coulthard and James Moffat – but all are likely to return for the final practice from 2.20pm (AEDT).

The Sydney 500 will hose three races for the first time this weekend – two 125km sprints on Saturday and a longer 250km feature on Sunday.

Having wrapped up the title last round at Phillip Island, Whincup will officially be crowned 2014 champion on Sunday – his record sixth in seven years – barring any major penalties this weekend.

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