Pye, Lowndes top practice one

The Plus Fitness Phillip Island 400 is underway, with the V8 Supercars returning to the Super Sprint format this weekend.

Scott Pye topped the first practice session with a 1min31.61 lap around the 4.445km circuit, with just 0.157sec separating the DJR youngster and Red Bull fan favourite Craig Lowndes in the first 20-minute run.

"The wind is blowing a bit gustily at the moment," Lowndes said of the conditions.

"So the car's good, I'm quite happy with where we are at the moment. Still making adjustments, but this wind direction is going to cause everyone a bit of a headache, because we know down here the wind direction causes a big indifference in the balance of the car."

While there's plenty of focus on his teammate Jamie Whincup this weekend as he vies to lock up the 2014 V8 Supercars title, Lowndes also has a job to do and is focused on jumping back up to second in the title race to score a Red Bull 1-2 for 2014.

"Still trying to win races - I think we've still got a great opportunity to finish second, so that's our aim. Obviously Jamie has his own setup and what he wants to do, so we'll just focus on us and see what we can do and what we can achieve."

Speaking to v8supercars.com.au yesterday, Pye emphasised the importance of starting today well.

James Moffat in the Norton Nissan Altima finished the session third, with James Courtney fourth and just 0.164sec off the quickest time.

From there, it was David Reynolds, Nick Percat, Lee Holdsworth, Mark Winterbottom, Jason Bright and Chaz Mostert completing the top 10.

Click here for full results.

Practice two kicks off at 11.45am local time.