The lap record didn’t stand a chance.

No less than ten V8 Supercars drivers eclipsed Craig Lowndes’ 13-year practice record at Phillip Island on Friday – himself included.

But the first man to go under one minute and 31 seconds at the Victorian circuit, Ford driver Alex Davison, doesn’t expect it to last the weekend.

“I’d say people will crack 29s,” he said at the penultimate event of the championship.

Michael Caruso, Fabian Coulthard, Mark Winterbottom and Jason Bright all took turns at holding the record but Davison produced the day’s quickest lap after the flag had gone up.

Davison’s new record stands at 1:30.96, sixth tenths of a second ahead of Frenchman Alex Premat, with Lowndes narrowly behind.

The lap record was destined to fall after the track’s resurfacing earlier this year, but Davison said it didn’t feel as he expected.

“It certainly had a lot more grip… the track surface is great but out of the gate it was pretty ugly,” he said.

“Everyone was chasing the roof of their car, going around corners with the steering wheel pointing in the wrong direction.”

While it’s hard to draw conclusions on the championship race from the three practice sessions, Friday was a narrow victory for Ford with Alex Davison on top of the timesheets and championship contenders Winterbottom and Will Davison both under 1 minute and 32 seconds.

Defending champion Jamie Whincup was slowest of the four title-chasers – split by just 121 points – at 1:32.13.

Saturday’s 28-lap race will be split in two with a rolling restart at the halfway stage, although Davison doesn’t foresee problems despite showers forecast.

“We’ve predicted disasters at all these rolling starts and there hasn’t really been any… we’ve got it under control by now,” he said.

Two 23-lap races are scheduled on Sunday before the season ends at Sydney’s Homebush street circuit next month.