Chaz Mostert is making the most of Supercars' new finals format, firming as a grand final favourite after extending his red hot form into the opening day of the Sandown 500.
The Walkinshaw Andretti United ace was second-fastest in both practice sessions on Friday, as David Reynolds and Anton De Pasquale set the benchmark with blistering drives in each.
But with the Team 18 duo already out of the finals picture, Mostert was easily the best of the remaining seven championship hopefuls, finishing five-hundredths of a second behind De Pasquale in practice one and seven-hundredths behind Reynolds in practice two.
Just three rounds ago, Mostert was trailing runaway leader Broc Feeney by 552 championship points.
Last year, that would've meant season over.
But with the introduction of the finals format and a resurgence in form that culminated in the 33-year-old winning both races last time out at the Gold Coast 500, Mostert finds himself suddenly breathing down Feeney's neck.
"There's probably one guy in the whole championship that probably doesn't agree with it, because he would probably be looking at his title already. But for everybody else it's really refreshing," he said.
"It's creating story lines, creating elements for the commentators to talk about. The fan presence as well, like people really getting behind you and backing you.
"This time of year for me, they're (usually) telling me, 'oh don't worry about this year, Chaz, we'll still back you for next year'. So it's nice to still be in the hunt."
Reynolds, who despaired at the prospect of becoming the grid's oldest driver next year, showed that the old dog still has a few tricks up his sleeve with a 1:08.523 hot lap amid a frenetic finish in practice two.
"We rolled out of the truck, pretty fast, pretty speedy, and actually made the car better. So normally that's one of the hardest things to do, is to make the car better," he said.
"I put it down to, you know, me and Anton just diving really hard into the conspiracies the last few weeks. We've been sending each other so much rubbish that it's just fried our brains, and we're just so stupid, we go so fast."
Feeney is probably still favourite to claim the championship.
He has a strong record at the Adelaide street circuit and no other driver comes close to his return this year of 12 wins from 29 races.
After coming in 18th in the first practice session, the Triple Eight speedster improved to finish fourth-fastest in practice two, just behind De Pasquale.
Reigning Supercars champion Will Brown came in seventh but was denied a chance to better his time when he spun his Chevrolet at turn four as the chequered flag fell.
The challenging corner claimed Cam Hill earlier in the session and is sure to cause more drama through the course of the weekend, especially if wet weather arrives as forecast.
The 3.1km circuit in Melbourne's southeastern suburbs is already one of the least grippy on the Supercars calendar, and the track's varied surfaces and hard braking zones will bring tyre strategy to the fore.
On Sandown's long straights, the Camaros' straight-line speed advantage over the Mustangs should give them the edge.
Recent history also favours Chevrolet. Of the last 12 races at Sandown, only one has been won by Ford when Will Davison triumphed in 2022.
Drivers will return to the historic Sandown circuit for the first qualifying session of the round at 11.50am (AEDT) on Saturday, followed by the top-10 shootout and the first 250km race.
The seven remaining finals contenders will be cut to just four drivers after the weekend's two races.
