Ford’s Scott McLaughlin has set a new track record to top practice before the Perth Supercars round’s opening race.

McLaughlin clocked 54.68 seconds in the 45-minute session on Saturday, shaving 0.09 of a second from the practice lap record set on Friday by defending series champion Shane van Gisbergen.

Ford teammates Mark Winterbottom and Cameron Waters completed the top three.

McLaughlin could not have timed his record-breaking form better.

Famous team boss – US motorsport giant Roger Penske – was trackside to savour the new mark.

Penske is in Perth for his annual business trip to Australia and was seen delivering an inspirational speech in his DJR Team Penske sheds on Friday.

It seemed to work, with McLaughlin sending an ominous warning before qualifying for the opening 120km race starts at 1.55pm AEST on Saturday.

McLaughlin’s Ford teammate Fabian Coulthard was fourth fastest on Saturday.

“The car was a lot better than yesterday,” McLaughlin said.

“There’s not much between Fabs (Coulthard) and I.

“We have two strong cars for qualifying, that’s for sure.”

Six-time series champion Jamie Whincup was second-last in the 26-strong practice field but had his fastest lap speeds – which would have put him into the top five – disallowed for what was believed to be shaving a corner on the 2.4km track.

It could have been worse for Whincup, who had to think quick to narrowly avoid a 250km/h collision with Ford’s Chaz Mostert late in the practice session.

Mostert was almost idle warming his tyres on the track and didn’t see a fast-approaching Whincup from behind.

Mostert and Whincup settled their differences and shook hands in the garage afterwards.

“I just got choked up with another car in front and didn’t even see Jamie coming that quick,” Mostert said.

“I was trying to focus on what is going on in front of me.”

The Perth round’s 50-lap opening race starts at 4.45pm AEST.