Ford driver Mark Winterbottom has set the fastest time in practice for this weekend’s V8 Supercars round in New Zealand.
Winterbottom clocked a best lap of 1min 2.6918sec in his Falcon FG on Friday to finish on top of the timesheets at the Pukekohe circuit on the southern outskirts of Auckland.
The 31-year-old was just 0.015sec quicker than championship leader Jamie Whincup while fellow Holden driver Fabian Coulthard was third fastest.
The New Zealand event has switched back to Pukekohe after five years on a street circuit in Hamilton.
The quirky 2.91km circuit, which has a horse racing track on the inside, has undergone a $NZ6.6 million ($A5.45 million) upgrade since 2007 that includes the addition of two new corners at the end of the back straight.
Qualifying is scheduled for Saturday morning before the first of two 100km afternoon races.
There will be another two races over the same distance on Sunday with the 27-man field competing for the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy, named in honour of the Kiwi V8 driver who died of a rare form of cancer in 2011.