The six-time V8 supercar champion Jamie Whincup has set a new practice lap record at Pukekohe this afternoon surpassing his teammate Shane van Gisbergen, who'd nabbed the record only hours earlier.
Whincup went three-tenths of a second quicker than his New Zealand teammate van Gisbergen, who's the current championship leader.
Whincup in his Red Bull Holden ended up with a new benchmark time of 1 minutes 02.118 seconds .
Jamie Whincup posted the fastest lap in practice at Pukekohe. Photo: Photosport
Van Gisbergen - who leads the series by 148 points over Whincup with two weekends of racing remaining - eventually had to settle for the fourth fastest practice time.
DJR Team Penske's Fabian Coulthard and fellow New Zealander in a Ford Falcon was second, with Prodrive's Mark Winterbottom also in Ford Falcon third.
The record lap will carry no advantage over the four 100km races on Saturday and Sunday.
Of more significance was his wild run across the home straight in the second practice session, where he was barely able to contain his Commodore.
Running wide out of the final turn, Whincup's Holden was backwards at one point as he fought to regain control, hitting a sponsor's board and bringing about a red flag.
"I tried to write the car off early ... with more arse than class the thing stepped a little bit right," he said.
"Just for your knowledge, the black is definitely grippier than the green, especially when it's been raining.
"The track is surprisingly quick. We didn't expect to be going this quick.
"You don't take anything out of the (practice) time - but we're both feeling good that the car is there or thereabouts and we'll keep grinding it out."
Van Gisbergen admitted it had been an "intense" week given the spotlight on him before his hometown race, but he would keep the same approach.
"The three of us are working well together and I'm trying to keep the car fast," he said.
"For me it's like every other weekend. The championship's there but my approach is the same; four good races with no mistakes is the goal."
It was an unusually tumultuous day of practice at Pukekohe, with five red flags issued.
A poorly packed kerb at turn three claimed a number of victims, with Scott McLaughlin, Chaz Mostert, Nick Percat and Will Davison running off due to loose gravel.
Whincup said a solution would need to be found before qualifying began on Saturday morning.
"It's a nice soft sand that you find on the beach," he said.
"They'll have a look at it tonight and do the best they can, maybe we can find something a little more harder packed."
Drivers will contest two 100km races on both Saturday and Sunday, with qualifying in the morning and races in the afternoon.
