Craig Lowndes has set the pace in the first of three 20-minute practice sessions at the Tyrepower Tasmania 400.
Meanwhile teammate Jamie Whincup finished on the bottom of the ladder, his Holden Commodore suffering power steering issues.
One second separated the top 22 V8 Supercars around the short circuit, but Lowndes’ 51.64sec lap trumped second placed Jason Bright, who was just 0.19sec adrift of the Red Bull racer in his Team BOC Commodore.
Tim Slade, Fabian Coulthard and Mark Winterbottom followed, with Garth Tander, Chaz Mostert, Michael Caruso, Nick Percat and Shane van Gisbergen completing the top 10.
Others to note include Will Davison, the first of the Erebus Mercedes AMGs, in 13th; Clipsal 500 winner James Courtney 15th; and Scott McLaughlin the first Volvo in 21st.
Click here for session results.
Lowndes described the track as greasy initially, though by the end of the session there was a clear dry line. He expects varying track condition over the weekend.
Practice two will commence at 12.10pm AEDT, with a third session to follow.
