Normal proceedings were quickly in place at Mount Panorama as the V8 Supercars’ big guns hit their straps in Thursday’s practice for this weekend’s Bathurst 1000.

Holden ace Jamie Whincup topped the timesheets with a two minutes and 7.3565 seconds lap of the 6.2km circuit with championship rivals Will Davison and Craig Lowndes not far behind.

Ford Performance Racing’s Davison clocked a 2:07.8181 to be second fastest with race favourite Lowndes in third with a 2:07.9792.

It means three of the championship’s big four are looking in good form ahead of Sunday’s 1000km endurance classic, with the only other driver to win a race this year – Ford’s Mark Winterbottom – ending up 10th on the timesheets.

While the final order for Thursday had an ominously predictable slant for fans, Whincup wasn’t ruling out a challenge by Ford team Stone Brothers Racing or even defending champion Garth Tander from Holden Racing Team putting in a big run on Sunday.

“I think we’d all like it to be the story of the weekend,” three-time Bathurst winner Whincup said.

“Triple Eight and FPR have had the best cars this year right from Clipsal through to now but 1000kms – anything can happen.

“Bathurst is not just about having a quick car and having the best team, it’s about getting through all the challenges of the day.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if a Stone Brothers or a HRT car is sitting right here especially with Garth, he’s won two of the last three, so those guys are going to be very, very tough to beat.”

Davison, the 2009 Bathurst winner, was feeling particularly confident as he aims to reignite his flagging championship challenge with the 300 points on offer to the victor at Mount Panorama.

“Big buzz, the car’s actually a lot better than it was 12 months ago around here,” he said.

“Really we’re trying to focus on the racecar but it was good to get that one quick one out at the end of the day for confidence and something to think about overnight.”

Tander was also talking up his chances despite posting the day’s 16th fastest time.

“We knew we’d be behind at the end of the day time-wise as the plan was not to use any new tyres, or even our best practice tyres, which we haven’t,” he said.

“It’s probably the best Commodore I’ve ever had out of the gate at Bathurst … I feel comfortable and we’re just tuning the car to make it faster on used tyres.”

The Bathurst action continues on Friday with two more practice sessions in the morning before qualifying for Sunday’s 1000km race starts at 2.45pm.