Ford’s Mark Winterbottom has signalled he does not intend to remain down the V8 Supercar ladder for long.

Winterbottom, a major contender last year, made a disappointing start to the 2013 series at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide.

He goes into this weekend’s round at Symmons Plains in 17th place.

His Ford Performance Racing teammate Will Davison is third on the table but the pair are swamped by Holdens.

The powerhouse Red Bull Racing team of leader Craig Lowndes and second-placed defending champion Jamie Whincup have set the pace from the opening round.

And while Davison is third, Winterbottom has been left looking for answers.

He showed he is on the right path early on Friday when he led the opening practice session at the small Tasmanian track.

Winterbottom’s 52.40s lap topped the timesheets from the Holdens of Fabian Coulthard, Jason Bright and Garth Tander.

The next best-placed Ford was the Falcon of Alex Davison.

Nissan are set to be hamstrung by Symmons Plains’ famous hairpin bend, which will affect their virtual stop to full throttle performance and on Friday Todd Kelly was 10th in practice in his Altima.

One spot back was German Maro Engel in his Erebus Mercedes E63.