Ford’s Cameron Waters has certified his tag as a leading contender to claim a maiden Bathurst 1000 by dominating the opening day of practice at Mt Panorama.

After collecting his first solo win at Tailem Bend last month, the Tickford driver has entered the Supercars season finale in the type of form to finally match it with the big guns.

The 26-year-old Waters opened the four-day event by taking out the morning practice session, and then saw off fellow Ford ace Scott McLaughlin in the afternoon.

Waters eclipsed McLaughlin’s time in the dying seconds to seriously throw down the gauntlet to the three-time Supercars champion.

“We’ve been fast all day but I just made a little mistake on that fast lap,” McLaughlin said.

“We’re still chasing a little bit of rear stability in the car but overall I’m really stoked with how it’s rolled out.”

Helping Waters’ cause will be having two-time Bathurst 1000 champion Will Davison as his co-driver in their Monster Racing Mustang.

Last winning the great race in 2016, Davison was left without a full-time drive this season after his team, 23Red, pulled out of Supercars once the coronavirus pandemic hit.

He did race at the Adelaide 500 and will be one of the only co-drivers to have race experience this year after the traditional lead-up enduro events were cancelled.

Jamie Whincup’s campaign got off to a mixed start, with the Red Bull Holden star finishing second in P1 but struggled to 16th in the next session.

His co-driver, semi-retired Supercars legend Craig Lowndes, struggled with engine difficulties during his brief run.

“We’re much better than 16th, but I don’t think we’re the quickest at the moment so we’ve got a little bit of work to do,” Whincup said.

McLaughlin handed over the reins to co-driver Tim Slade with about 15 minutes to go in the first session.

But Slade turned in a rusty first-up performance, conceding he made a mistake in tangling with Shane van Gisbergen, which caused his Ford Mustang to spin out.