Wall stands tall in Sydney

David Wall has topped the first all-in practice at Sydney Motorsport Park in his Volvo S60.

On soft tyres, Wall recorded a 1min30.532 late in the session to knock defending and six-time champ Jamie Whincup off the top of the times, the Volvo 0.2953sec quicker than the Red Bull Commodore, which was on the hard Dunlop tyre.

"We put a set of softs on at the end there, they were by no means great so surprised by the time there," Wall said.

"The car's also good on the hard tyre, which is pretty pleasing, but we'll do a bit more work on it."

The V8 Supercars slid around the track in the one-hour practice session, as the drivers found the limits - Shane van Gisbergen in particular using all the road he could, and more.

Van Gisbergen's car hit trouble in the earlier additional driver practice session with Jonathon Webb behind the wheel, but TEKNO was confident of tracing the issue and had the kiwi out for the majority of the hour.

Van Gisbergen expressed how difficult the car has been to drive, having struggled through the last couple of rounds despite being billed an early Championship favourite this season.

"You've got to test the limits, I was trying pretty hard. The car's pretty ugly as it has been the last couple of rounds," he said.

"The car's getting better but just so hard to drive. Anytime you're braking it's loose... it's two different cars into the corner and through it."

James Courtney's Holden Racing Team Commodore also participated in the session after issues with Jack Perkins behind the wheel - he was the highest placed of the Walkinshaw racers in 11th.

Erebus Motorsport rookie Ash Walsh came home third at a track that has suited the E63 AMG in the past.

Championship leader Mark Winterbottom finished the session eighth.

Tony D'Alberto was the only co-driver to get behind the wheel, the Supercheap Auto Commodore he shares with Tim Slade home in 20th.

Click here for full session results.

The V8 Supercars will participate in a further hour-long practice session this afternoon at the Sydney Motorsport Park SuperSprint.