The only main driver practice session at this weekend’s Wilson Security Sandown 500 has seen Red Bull Racing Australia’s Jamie Whincup top the time sheets by almost half a second.

Whincup recorded a 1:09.19 around the 3.1 kilometre circuit, 0.44 seconds adrift of second quickest Garth Tander.

“The car is well and truly in the ball park,” defending Wilson Security Sandown 500 winner Whincup told v8supercars.com.au.

“The car’s as good as it was last year at the moment, so we need to keep it like that – but if we can move forward and advance as well, that’s a good thing. Early days… we’re going to aim high. Just repeating last year is going to be a huge effort, but we’re in the window at the moment.”

Whincup said a tow on his fast lap helped record the time.

“We’re not getting too carried away I got a huge tow on that lap as well. (It was) a Nissan. I’m not sure which one, but got a massive tow, that gave me a heap of time. So it’s a bit artificial, but we’ll take it.”

The first practice session of the Pirket Enduro Cup was red flagged when David Wall’s Falcon went off the track at turn one on the circuit.

Wall told v8supercars.com.au a failure in the left front of the car caused the off, which he speculated may have been a problem with the engine.

The oil from Wall’s #17 entry caught out Dick Johnson Racing teammate Scott Pye, with the 24-year-old spearing off the track at the same point on the circuit, tagging the fence.

James Courtney was third in the 40-minute session, followed by Scott McLaughlin, Lee Holdsworth, Jason Bright, Tim Slade and Rick Kelly.

Steve Owen was the only co-driver to take advantage of the shared driver practice session, which saw the entry he shares with Mark Winterbottom ninth fastest.

Nick Percat rounded out the top 10.

Chaz Mostert was down the order in 14th place, while P1-stable mate Craig Lowndes set the 15th quickest time.

Other notable mentions include Kiwis Shane Van Gisbergen and Fabian Coulthard in 16th and 18th respectively.

Click here for the full results.

The Wilson Security Sandown 500 continues today with two co-driver only practice sessions kicking off at 12.35pm.