Departing Nissan driver James Moffat has clocked the fastest time in practice at the Gold Coast 600 V8 Supercars event.

Moffat, who announced on Thursday he’ll be leaving the Nissan Motorsport team at the end of the year, clocked a one minute and 10.7995 seconds fastest lap in the final of four practice sessions on Friday.

Holden’s Shane Van Gisbergen was second fastest with a 1:10.8727 while Bathurst 1000 champion Craig Lowndes finished third with a 1:11.0603.

Championship leader Mark Winterbottom could only post the ninth-quickest time while struggling defending champion Jamie Whincup finished a lowly 24th on the timesheets.

Holden driver James Courtney, making his return this weekend from a serious injury suffered at the Sydney Motorsport Park round in August, finished eighth on the timesheets in an encouraging display.

Another sore driver, Ford’s Scott Pye, overcame a broken rib to back up his fastest time in the day’s first session with the 10th quickest lap in the final run.

In the co-driver only sessions on Friday, it was Holden’s Paul Dumbrell who dominated, clocking a 1.11:2680 on the 2.98km Surfers Paradise street circuit.

The action resumes on Saturday with qualifying in the morning ahead of a 250km race in the afternoon.