Will takes west on day one

Frosty 4th in practice

Fords Pepsi Max Crew has ended the opening day on track in Perth on top of the timesheets with Will fastest on a day dominated by tyre selection.

Will was well inside the top-10 all day before setting a time which would go unbeaten late in the final session when he used a better set of used softs.

Mark ran a near-identical program and while he was marginally slower he was very happy with the pace of his factory Ford despite relying on two well-worn sets of tyres.

Mark Winterbottom - #5 Pepsi Max FPR Ford:
Ended the day: 4th 
Im pretty happy with the day today and the car felt great. We dont get any new tyres until qualifying so we wont be sure of exactly how quick we are going to be until then but the tyres we had in practice were pretty good and that allowed us to make some positive steps. My run on the better rubber wasnt great at all so it was a nice surprise to be so close to Will and is encouraging.

Will Davison - #6 Pepsi Max FPR Ford:
Ended the day: 1st 
I am pleasantly surprised to be at the top of the times given we were using older rubber. That said Im not sure what everyone else did so it is a bit early to get carried away as until we use new tyres in qualifying we wont really know exactly where we sit. We trialled some things in the first session which didnt quite turnout as wed planned and I was also bit tough on my tyres so it was a bit messy early but with our performance this afternoon I think we are going to be okay tomorrow.

Tim Edwards FPR Team Principal: 
This is one of the tracks where in practice it is very difficult to gauge where everyone in the field is on pure pace due to the high tyre wear and variable programs. That said it was pleasing to see the consistency of all of our cars on pre-marked tyres and on fresher rubber later in the day. The race format this weekend will likely throw up some varied strategies so to be kind on our tyres and also quick on a single lap so early in the piece is the ideal start.