Heavy hitters Red Bull have emerged to dominate the second V8 Supercar practice session at Symmons Plains.

Defending series champion Jamie Whincup set the quickest time with teammate and series leader Craig Lowndes third.

The pair were split by the Holden Commodore of Fabian Coulthard.

Jason Bright in another Holden was fourth before Ford’s Mark Winterbottom slotted into fifth to signal 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.

Davison was down the list in second practice on Friday and unable to manage better than 18th place.

Winterbottom 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 Coulthard, Bright and Garth Tander.

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

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