Pye flies, Whincup flies off the road in Practice 5

It was a final co-driver practice session of contrasts for Red Bull Ampol Racing, with Jamie Whincup spinning off the road before Scott Pye went quickest overall.

In a session punctuated by two early red flags, one for Whincup, the two Red Bull Ampol Chevrolets were the only cars in the 2:05s.

Whincup led the way for the balance of the session before Pye turned in a 2:05.6647s in the closing minutes to claim top spot, with Tickford Racing star Mark Winterbottom third.

The session got off to something of a false start when Lochie Dalton lost the rear of the #5 Tickford Mustang at Hell Corner, and beached the wildcard entry into the gravel, drawing the red flag after six minutes.

At the time of the stoppage, Fabian Coulthard held top spot with a 2:07.6587s, ahead of Walkinshaw Andretti United teammate Jayden Ojeda, Winterbottom, Penrite Racing's Garth Tander and Tickford's Moffat.

Matt Stone Racing's Tim Slade (2:06.7344s), Pye (2:06.8106s) and Tander (2:06.9407s) jumped ahead after the resumption, before Triple Eight wildcard Zach Bates (2:06.5290s) and Winterbottom (2:06.4215s) lowered the benchmark.

Bates (2:06.3825s) and Winterbottom (2:06.3066s) marched on, and were split by Whincup (2:06.3366s). The seven-time Supercars champion turned up the heat and dropped in the first 2:05s of the day, a 2:05.7089s, to go 0.6s clear of old rival Winterbottom.

However, it didn't take long for Bathurst to have its say, Whincup losing the rear and burying his Chevrolet in the Hell Corner sand, triggering another red flag.

The times remained stagnant into the final 15 minutes, before 2021 Bathurst winner Lee Holdsworth jumped to third with a 2:06.3709s. Seconds later, Tony D'Alberto himself improved to third with a 2:06.3403s.

With seven minutes left on the clock, Coulthard returned to the pointy end with a 2:06.2532s, yet remained 0.54s off Whincup's ultimate pace.

It was Whincup's teammate Pye, though, who showed strong pace into the closing minutes, firing in the fastest first sector before closing out a 2:05.6647s to jump to the top.

Behind them, Winterbottom improved to third with a 2:06.0163s, closely followed by Bates (2:06.0602s). Tander split Winterbottom and Bates with a 2:06.0602s.

Supercars action resumes with Practice 6 at 1:10pm. Saturday's action concludes with the all-important Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout at 5:05pm.

Live coverage of the Repco Bathurst 1000 can be found live on screens of the Seven Network, 7plus, Fox Sports and Kayo Sports.