Volvo’s Scott McLaughlin has made a bright start to this weekend’s V8 Supercars event in Ipswich, topping the timesheets in opening practice.
McLaughlin clocked a fastest lap of one minute and 10.0563 seconds in the hour-long session at Queensland Raceway.
The Garry Rogers Motorsport driver finished ahead of Erebus Mercedes duo Ash Walsh (1:10.2221) and Will Davison (1:10.2459) in what is the first of two sessions on Friday.
Championship leader Mark Winterbottom came ninth in the session with Ford teammate Chaz Mostert just ahead of him with the fifth-quickest lap.
Holden pair Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes were mid-pack in 13th and 16th respectively.
Earlier, two-time champion Marcos Ambrose completed his penultimate hit-out before this year’s endurance races by finishing eighth in the morning’s co-driver only session.
Nissan’s Dean Fiore topped that half-hour session, his fastest lap over a half a second quicker than Ambrose, whose V8 Supercars return has been in hiatus since he stepped away from his drive earlier in the year.