Coulthard breaks Bathurst record to go fastest

The session came alive in the dying sessions, and the majority of the field went for green tyre runs to close out the day.

And it was Coulthard who got the most out of his rubber, setting an unbelievable 2m05.478s on his final run – the fastest ever lap around Mount Panorama in a V8 Supercar.

“I could tell by the first practice it was going to be a pretty quick day,” Coulthard said.

“I was like ‘I think my lap record’s going to get broken at some point today’, and I’m glad it was me that did it.”

Coulthard’s previous record was a 2m05.608s, which he set during qualifying last year.

Mark Winterbottom, David Reynolds, Chaz Mostert, and Shane van Gisbergen all managed to dip under the 2m06s barrier as well, with Craig Lowndes falling less than two-tenths short of a five back in sixth.

James Moffat was the best Nissan in seventh, Scott McLaughlin the best Volvo in 13th, and Will Davison the best Erebus back in 20th.

Simona De Silvestro was one of the stars of the session, her 2m09.167s exceptionally quick given that it’s her first visit to Mount Panorama, and first day of competitive driving in a V8 Supercar. The time was good enough for 25th at the end of the session, with team-mate Renee Gracie taking the wheel for the last 15 minutes.

Only 26 cars took part in the final session of the first day of running, with the #15 Jack Daniel’s Nissan not making it out after David Russell crashed it during Free Practice 2.