The idea of steering a V8 Supercar on Mount Panorama’s fresh and fast tarmac scared David Reynolds.

But that didn’t stop him from setting a new lap record during the final practice session on Thursday for the Bathurst 1000.

The Ford Performance Racing (FPR) driver clocked a blistering two minutes, 6.3714 seconds on the newly-resurfaced track – nearly half-a-second clear of the time Craig Lowndes set in practice in 2010.

Reynolds was one of three to better Lowndes’ mark, alongside FPR stablemate and defending Bathurst champion Mark Winterbottom and Brad Jones Racing’s Fabian Coulthard in a Holden.

Their times were also well above Greg Murphy’s famous Lap of the Gods, laid down in 2003’s memorable Top 10 shootout.

That record still stands, though, as the fastest-ever in qualifying.

“Growing up, I was watching Murphy and all those blokes smash the lap record and then here I am today on top,” Reynolds said.

“It’s kind of a weird feeling.

“It’s only practice though – we’ve got three more days of this.”

Much of the talk in the build up to Sunday’s Great Race has been around the circuit’s $2 million facelift, with many predicting new speed and lap records.

Nissan’s Rick Kelly summed it up best after posting the quickest time before a flurry of hot laps after a red flag in the day’s final session.

“The car was good, but it scared the sh** out of me,” he said over the team radio.

Reynolds concurred.

“I started out pretty scared about the whole idea of racing a V8 Supercar here,” he said.

“I nearly bit it a few times; it was really really edgy. Because of the new surface, the car balance has changed quite a bit.”

After weeks of disappointment and poor results, Winterbottom was happy to be among the top three

“It is hard work out there,”

“In terms of racing, it’s going to be good. You want the drivers to drive the car, not the cars to drive the drivers.

“You’ll see mistakes, you’ll see shunts, you’ll see plenty of action.

“Sunday’s going to be a really good race to watch.”

Things didn’t go so well for Holden’s frontrunners, however, who had been slugged with favouritism after locking out the top four spots at last month’s Sandown 500.

Championship leader Jamie Whincup was almost two seconds off the lead pace – 17th fastest in the final session. Red Bull Racing teammate Lowndes was eighth fastest.

“We’re not in the ballpark with the car at the moment,” Whincup said.

“I had a suspicion that this might be the case today … with the massive change in track conditions as a result of the resurfacing.

“(But) we’ve been in this position plenty of times before and we’ve pulled through.”

Holden Racing Team’s Garth Tander crashed out with 15 minutes left in practice just before the Dipper, but was hopeful of getting his Commodore back for qualifying on Friday.

“It’s probably more damage that we would have liked, but nothing unfixable,” he said.

The drivers will get another practice session on Friday morning before qualifying begins at 3pm (AEDT).