SCAR battles to the front

Street track star Tony D'Alberto has paid tribute to the hard work of the Supercheap Auto Racing crew after setting the fastest time of the day in practice session three for the Castrol EDGE Gold Coast 600.

D'Alberto showed strong pace in the rebuilt car, which regular driver Tim Slade stuffed into the concrete during the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 two weeks ago.

"A lot of teams had a lot of work after Bathurst and everyone says their team is awesome, but our car had a lot of damage ... and the guys did a huge amount of work," said D'Alberto.

"So credit to them, the car hasn't missed a beat all day. Set-up wise it isn't perfect yet, but it's obviously better than some."

D'Alberto finished fourth on the Gold Coast in the opening 300km race in 2013 in one of his last outings for his family-owned team before it closed its doors at the end of 2013. He has also shown strong form on the Townsville street circuit previously too.

The SCAR team has also enjoyed recent success on the Gold Coast, with Russell Ingall and Ryan Briscoe scoring third place in the Sunday race in 2013.

"I'm not sure why I connect so well with this circuit, it must just suit my driving style because I do tend to go better in these sorts of circumstances," said D'Alberto.

"Not that I am a ballsy driver, but it must just suit my technique. I am able to thread the needle a little bit better than some and the car is obviously pretty good otherwise we wouldn't be able to do the time."

D'Alberto's 1 min 11.4069 sec just pipped young DJR star Scott Pye's 1 min 11.4183 sec effort from the opening session, although both times are more about 0.4 sec slower than Red Bull driver Jamie Whincup's qualifying lap record.

D-Alberto said the next vital step would be to qualify near the front for tomorrow and Sunday's 300km races and avoid the potential chaos of the midfield.

"You can get stuck in a train of cars and it's difficult to get past anyone. If we can qualify at the front and run with the front guys then it just opens up our day."

A strong result would also be a confidence booster for Slade, whose shift from Erebus to Walkinshaw Racing this year has not delivered the results he and the team expected.