The Kiwi left his run as late as possible, jumping to the top at the chequered flag with a 1m55.491s, a time just under half a second shy of the practice/qualifying lap record at the Albert Park circuit.

The time was the only one under the 1m56s bracket, leaving Coulthard a whopping 0.897s clear of the field.

Nissan’s Michael Caruso was next in line, having been the first into the 1m56s when he bashed out a 1m56.388s with 10 minutes to go.

That time had put him more than half a second over the field, before Shane van Gisbergen (Triple Eight Holden) and Tim Slade (Brad Jones Racing Holden) both improved with around five minutes to go to take what ultimately became third and fourth spots respectively.

Erebus Holden driver David Reynolds nipped into the 56s with a 1m56.433s with around a minute to go to grab fifth spot, ahead of Mark Winterbottom (Prodrive Ford), Nick Percat (BJR Holden), and Chaz Mostert (Prodrive Ford).

Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden driver Garth Tander had been fastest at the midway point of the session, but his 1m57.069s wound up only being good enough for ninth, ahead of Will Davison in the Tekno Holden.

Simona de Silvestro had a promising first hit-out on the Albert Park circuit, finishing up 20th fastest, 2.8s shy of Coulthard and just over a second off the Top 10.

She was also ahead of three big names in Triple Eight drivers Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes, and DJR Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin. All three had offs during the session, Lowndes and McLaughlin both being caught out at Turn 1, and finished up 23rd (Whincup), 25th (McLaughlin), and 26th (Lowndes).

The Supercars will return for a rapid-fire four segment qualifying session early this evening Melbourne time.