Bathurst 12 Hour: Triple Eight ends Friday fastest

The two Supercars regulars staged a late shootout in the final hour-long session of the day, trading fastest times in the closing minutes.

It was van Gisbergen in the all-Pro #888 entry that ultimately won out, a 2m03.964s – the only time in the 'threes' – proving too good.

De Pasquale finished up two-tenths down in the Pro-Am entry that he'll share with Yasser Shahin, Sam Shahin and Nick Foster,

Kelvin van der Linde was a late improver as well, the South African briefly going quickest in the #222 Valvoline Audi with three minutes to go, before slipping back to third.

Chris Mies made it an Audi three-four in the #22 entry, followed by the #999 GruppeM Mercedes, Raffaele Marciello setting the pace in that car, and Ben Barker in #4 Grove Porsche.

The #2 Valvoline Audi was seventh quickest, ahead of the #63 FFF Lamborghini, the #77 Craft-Bamboo Mercedes and the #1 EBM Porsche.

The #6 Wall Lamborghini was the best Silver Class entry, with the previous Silver pacesetter, the #46 Black Falcon Mercedes, sparking an early red flag after Sergey Afanasiev made contact with the wall.

Neither of the Bentleys ran in the session, with the #7 entry undergoing an engine change and the #8 sidelined by a sensor issue. They are both expected to return for tomorrow's first practice.

Practice continues with another 60 minute session at 8:45am local time tomorrow.