Kostecki pips van Gisbergen, Mostert in Practice 3

Brodie Kostecki has pipped Shane van Gisbergen and Chaz Mostert to Friday honours at the Thrifty Newcastle 500.

Kostecki's 1:11.4068s was the benchmark of Practice 3 in his Coca-Cola Camaro, albeit by 0.0557s over van Gisbergen.

Mostert fired his #25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang into third, and was just 0.0760s behind Kostecki.

For the third straight session, the top 10 was a split of five Chevrolet Camaros and five Ford Mustangs.

The top 10 drivers were split by a measly 0.5067s, with the top 24 covered by 0.9961s.

“It’s great to roll out with speed, we focused on race runs in the first two practices,” 25-year-old Kostecki said.

“I felt like a bit of a wobbler out there — she’s a bit of a handful on old tyres.

“I felt really confident, all the test days have gone great.

“It is only Friday, but I’m really excited about tomorrow."

Kostecki spent much of Friday’s final practice session towards the front in what was a mixed session for Erebus Motorsport.

Teammate Will Brown, who ended up 12th, gently nudged the Turn 8 barriers midway through the session.

Van Gisbergen had another interrupted session due to a reported gearbox selection issue in his Red Bull Ampol Camaro.

The reigning champion, who won a record 21 races last year, topped the earlier Practice 2 on Friday.

The top five was rounded out by Nulon Racing Camaro teammates Tim Slade and James Golding.

Slade loomed to top Friday’s running ahead of his milestone 400th race, before Kostecki, van Gisbergen and Mostert set their final flyers.

Andre Heimgartner opened proceedings with a 1:12.1413s in his R&J Batteries Camaro, having topped the morning session.

Kostecki and Erebus cycled through race runs throughout the day, but the #99 Camaro still managed to log a day-best 1:11.6160s early in the run.

The #99 went even quicker with a 1:11.6802s, before Slade jumped to the top with a 1:11.5649s in the #400 Nulon Camaro.

Van Gisbergen shrugged off the gearbox issue to go fastest in the closing minutes, with Mostert jumping to second.

However, Kostecki emerged quickest of all, albeit by just 0.0557s after over two hours of practice running.

Nick Percat was sixth, three positions behind Walkinshaw Andretti United Mustang teammate Mostert, with Will Davison seventh in his Shell V-Power Ford.

Scott Pye (#20 Hino Camaro), Cam Waters (#6 Monster Mustang) and Anton De Pasquale (#11 Shell V-Power Mustang) rounded out the top 10, with Heimgartner 13th.

Cars will return to the track on Saturday for ARMOR ALL Qualifying at 11:15am local time.

The very first Top Ten Shootout of the Gen3 era will commence at 12:35pm, which will set the grid for Race 1 at 3:20pm.

Tickets for the Thrifty Newcastle 500 are on sale on Supercars.com and Ticketek.com.