Championship leader Jamie Whincup has thrown down the gauntlet in the day’s final practice, bolting on green tyres and recording a 1min27.70 around the 3.42km Sydney street circuit.

“We’ve got good data now on what the car does on green bags,” Whincup said. “I used a set of my six (sets of) tyres, which I’m hoping most other people did.”

Whincup smashed his right mirror housing on his way to the fastest time – he and second-placed Scott McLaughlin the only drivers to dip into the ‘27s’.

Contender Mark Winterbottom was third quickest in his Pepsi Max Falcon, 0.32sec behind his Red Bull rival.

Shane van Gisbergen recorded fourth with Jason Bright, Will Davison, Craig Lowndes, Jonathon Webb, Alex Premat who was quickest earlier in the day, and Scott Pye making up the top 10.

Others to note include first Mercedes Tim Slade in 12th, Nick Percat subbing into the #22 for regular driver James Courtney in 13, Fabian Coulthard 16,  P3’s quickest David Reynolds in 17, first Nissan James Moffat in 19th, Garth Tander 20 and Chaz Mostert in 22.

Lee Holdsworth’s IRWIN Mercedes suffered more issues with reported starter motor problems, but managed 18 in the final session.

Click here for full session results.

Friday Night Live will finish today’s action at the Sydney NRMA Motoring & Services 500, with all the pit lane favourites featuring with Channel Seven’s expert team. The show will be filmed in the paddock, and fans are encouraged to stay at the track and be part of the spectacle.

Tomorrow’s V8 Supercars action kicks off at 11.55am local time tomorrow, with ARMOR ALL Qualifying right up, to be followed by a Top 10 Shootout at 2.05pm.

The first V8 Supercars twilight race will feature tomorrow evening, beginning at 5.10pm on the Sydney streets.