Brown tops final practice; Kostecki 16th, SVG 17th

Will Brown has set the Saturday morning pace at the VAILO Adelaide 500 after after Shane van Gisbergen triggered an early red flag.

Brown clocked a 1:19.0313s in the 30-minute Practice 3 to plant his #9 Coca-Cola Camaro atop the time sheets heading to the ARMOR ALL Top Ten Shootout.

With five minutes remaining, Cam Waters (#43 Monster Energy Mustang) vaulted to the top to the tune of 0.3920s with a 1:19.1444s. 

Brown then moved to second with a 1:19.1806s, before improving to a 1:19.0313s to set the fastest time of the weekend so far.

Championship contenders Brodie Kostecki (#99 Coca-Cola Camaro) and van Gisbergen (#97 Red Bull Ampol Camaro) were 16th and 17th.

Van Gisbergen ran off at Turn 4 in the opening minutes, and was unable to select reverse gear. The session was briefly suspended as officials helped van Gisbergen right his Camaro.

The reigning champion showed solid pace after his off, but bowled a wide at the final corner after setting the quickest first sector.

At the time of van Gisbergen’s off, Brown was quickest with a 1:19.6755s, with Chaz Mostert (#25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang) and Andre Heimgartner (#8 R&J Batteries Camaro) just behind.

Brown consolidated top spot after the stoppage with a 1:19.6445s, with Thomas Randle (#55 Castrol Mustang) first moving to second with a 1:19.6467s before claiming top spot with a 1:19.5706s.

Waters put his Ken Block-inspired Monster Ford on top ahead of the final runs with a 1:19.1444s, before Brown set the quickest lap of all as the chequered flag unfurled.

It was a major statement ahead of the Shootout for Brown, who will move to Triple Eight in 2024. Future teammate Broc Feeney's troubles continued, with the #88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro 20th on the time sheets.

Of the 10 drivers to feature in Saturday's Shootout, seven were inside the 10 in Practice 3: Brown, Waters, Randle, Reynolds, Mostert, Anton De Pasquale (#11 Shell V-Power Mustang) and Matt Payne (#19 Penrite Mustang).

Kostecki, van Gisbergen and James Golding (#31 Nulon Camaro) filled positions 16 through 18, with Golding first man out in the one-lap dash on Saturday afternoon.

The ARMOR ALL Top Ten Shootout, at 12:05pm local time/12:35pm AEDT, will set the grid for Race 27, which will start at 2:50pm local time/3:20pm AEDT.