Ford’s Fabian Coulthard has kept his cool in sweltering conditions to finish fastest in the final practice session before qualifying for the Supercars opening round in Adelaide.

Coulthard has clocked one minute, 20:11 seconds to finish ahead of Ford teammate and defending series champion Scott McLaughlin, followed by seven-time series winner Jamie Whincup of Holden.

Coulthard iced Friday’s practice as temperatures soared past 40 degrees, trackside, and up to 70 inside the cars in a dream run for the Mustang, which has replaced Falcons this year in all six of Ford’s teams.