Holden Racing Team driver Garth Tander was quickest in the opening qualifying session for the Bathurst 1000 for Australian V8 Supercars.
Tander, who shares his Holden with Nick Percat, put in a 2m07.6640s lap in the closing moments to seal the top spot. Subsequent challenges from Mark Winterbottom (Ford Performance Racing) and championship leader Jamie Whincup (Triple Eight Holden) fell just short.
David Reynolds thrust his Kelly Racing Holden to fourth late on, with another late improvement getting Paul Morris Holden driver Steve Owen into the final spot in tomorrow's top 10 qualifying shootout.
Will Davison (FPR) and Paul Dumbrell (Rod Nash/FPR) were knocked outside the cut to 11th and 12th by Reynolds and Owen's progress. Kelly's Greg Murphy, Whincup's teammate and title rival Craig Lowndes, HRT's James Courtney, Garry Rogers driver Lee Holdsworth and Stone Brothers Ford racer Shane van Gisbergen also sealed their top 10 places today.
The session's major incident was a heavy crash for Jason Bargwanna at The Dipper. That left the Brad Jones Holden man in 21st.
Another practice session takes place on Saturday morning, before the top 10 order is set in the traditional one-lap pole shootout tomorrow afternoon.