Although he set the quickest time in Friday's practice for the Clipsal 500, Jamie Whincup says he's not the fastest in Adelaide so far.
Whincup’s TeamVodafone crew left it to the last minute to put green tyres on his Commodore before setting the fastest time during the final practice of the day.
Falcon driver Shane Van Gisbergen was second fastest and Ford’s Paul Dumbrell was third quickest.
"I had a really tough session to be honest; it is so hectic around here and it is hard to get a clear lap," Whincup said.
"We slowly progressed with the car; it started off very tough to drive and I had no confidence in it whatsoever," Whincup said.
"We made some changes and I got the car much better; unfortunately we got sin-binned for two minutes (for kerb hopping); it was a tough call, but I’m not complaining. There is a rule for turn two and I crossed over it."
"I did the best lap I could have at the end, but I’m pretty sure that a lot of people didn’t put (green) tyres on; I’m sure we are going to see my lap record from last year well and truly smashed tomorrow," Whincup said.
Whincup has won all for races this season.
Gisbergen made a smooth transition from the wide, flowing tracks of Abu Dhabi and Bahrain to the tight and sometimes torturous street circuit of Adelaide Parklands to finish one tenth of a second behind Team Vodafone’s Jamie Whincup in the times.
"We actually were struggling with the car a little bit to start with today, we made a spring change and it got a lot better. Thanks to the tyres at the end there we made a good gain and set a good lap time," he said.
"For the short twenty minute qualifying session tomorrow it will be pretty hectic out there but you just have to find your own clear track, switch your headlights on so everyone knows you're on a fast lap and go for it."
"This is a great circuit that you can really get into, from the first run you scrape your mirror on the walls , it's a cool feeling you can just push the car hard and bounce around a bit."
"The car feels great and it's good to be consistently quick, I think the difference is this year that I am just making better choices on the track. I'm not as desperate to make passes and I know the car is capable of winning so I am more comfortable to just hang in there for a few laps before making a move on someone," Gisbergen said.
The Clipsal 500 continues on Saturday with qualifying for the Top Ten Shootout and the first of two 250km races.