The IRWIN / SP Tools Racing Ford Falcon of Alex Davison and Shane van Gisbergen completed the Friday practice sessions for the L&H 500 at Phillip Island in seventh place.

Davison drove the entire opening session, familiarising himself with the car and setting the sixth fastest time in the process.

“It has been not too bad today. I did the first session on old tyres and really just shook the car down and made sure I was happy with the car,” said Davidson.

“From the second session onwards Shane did the majority of the running and the team really worked on improving the car’s set-up. This was achieved as when I got back in the car towards the end of the final session it certainly felt better.

“We still have some work to do, but the team is confident that with a few more tweaks we can make it even better for tomorrow.”

Van Gisbergen then climbed aboard the #9 Ford for the second session, working on improving the set-up. Working with his regular engineering crew, van Gisbergen improved the car through to set the seventh fastest time.

Both drivers shared the car in the final session, once again improving the IRWIN / SP Tools Racing Ford to be seventh at the end of the day.

Driving Davison’s regular #4 Falcon, Daniel Gaunt and John McIntyre used the practice sessions to familiarise themselves with the team, car and circuit. By the end of the day they had placed the second IRWIN / SP Tools Racing Ford in 16th position on the timesheets.

“It was a solid day. John and I have been working well together. Importantly we both like each other’s set-up and we can head in the same direction with the car. It gives us confidence heading into tomorrow’s session and the qualifying races,” said Gaunt.

“It’s been a big day in terms of learning the track in a V8 Supercar; plus working with the team for the first time at an actual race weekend. I have only done around 25 laps in total at this stage, so I’m really looking forward to more time in the car tomorrow.”

Tomorrow’s schedule includes separate practice, qualifying and sprint races for all four drivers. The final grid for Sunday’s 500km race will be set from the combined results of the sprint races.