V8 Supercar fans in Townsville may have got a glimpse of the future on Friday.

With all eyes on championship contenders Jamie Whincup, Mark Winterbottom, Will Davison and Craig Lowndes at the Reid Park street circuit, it was Ford rising star David Reynolds who stole the show both on and off the racetrack.

Reynolds posted the fastest time in Friday practice, clocking a best lap of one minute and 12.8310 seconds, before delivering one of the more entertaining press conferences in Australian sport this year.

The 27-year-old took time between his answers to discuss whether he should answer a phone, then posed for self-portrait photos on the same phone and finally claimed Townsville was one of his favourite events purely because of the after-party on Sunday night.

The Albury-born driver also mentioned he was keen to get serious about delivering results to match his promise.

“I’ve taken a different approach this weekend … during the race I’m going to use the car in a different way so it looks after its tyres better,” he said.

“I’m just sick of finishing fifth and sixth, I’m going to try and win.”

Reynolds wasn’t the only surprise with Tekno Autosports pair Michael Patrizi (1:12.8734) and Jonathon Webb (1:12.9841) finishing second and third fastest.

Championship leader Jamie Whincup (1:13.0335) was bumped down to an unfamiliar fourth spot with Lowndes and Davison coming in 10th and 11th.

Winterbottom, third in the standings, was well off the pace and only managed the day’s 23rd best time.

While TeamVodafone’s Whincup and Lowndes were happy with their showing, Ford pair Davison and Winterbottom admitted they have issues to overcome with tyres.

“Pretty average day really because I think the car is quite good,” Winterbottom said.

“That’s sport. You have to bring tyres with you, they’re never new, they’re used and we got it wrong this time.”

The action resumes on Saturday with qualifying and a top 10 shootout ahead of a 200km race starting at 3.35pm (AEST).