Holden’s Jamie Whincup has fired the first shot at Mount Panorama, topping Thursday’s V8 Supercars practice timesheets at Bathurst.

Whincup, the championship leader, clocked a fastest lap of two minutes and 7.3565 seconds on the 6.2km circuit to finish fastest on the opening day of this year’s endurance classic.

Ford rival Will Davison was second fastest with a 2:07.8181 while race favourite and Whincup’s Holden teammate Craig Lowndes third quickest with a 2:07.9792.

Ford’s Mark Winterbottom, second in the championship behind Whincup, could only post the day’s 10th fastest time, while defending Bathurst champion Garth Tander was a lowly 16th on the timesheets.

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.