Marcos Ambrose has rated his first day back in V8 Supercars a success, having emerged unscathed from the steamy streets of Sydney.
The two-time champion completed all three practice sessions on a hot Friday with little fuss but was 1.43 seconds off the pace - set by Holden poster-boy James Courtney.
Ambrose has never raced on the tight Sydney Olympic Park circuit, which was added to the calendar in 2009 - four years after the Tasmanian left to drive in NASCAR.
He is steering a wildcard entry for Dick Johnson Racing this weekend in preparation for his full-time drive with the newly-formed DJR Team Penske next year.
"It's been a great day for us really, just to get re-acclimatised with a V8 Supercar in competition and on a tough track like Homebush," Ambrose said.
"I'm really enjoying it and feel a lot better at the end of the day than I did at the start.
"I'm going to use this time to really dig deep and work on some techniques, clean up some bad habits from NASCAR and hopefully by Sunday afternoon we will be competitive."
Ambrose outpaced Ford drivers Mark Winterbottom and Jack Perkins, the pair anchored at the bottom of the timesheets in Friday's final session.
It was not a great look for the manufacturer, who on Monday confirmed it was withdrawing from the category at the end of 2015.
Winterbottom sits second on the championship standings, but will have to fend off Holden stars Craig Lowndes and Shane van Gisbergen who are also chances to finish second overall behind already-confirmed champion Jamie Whincup.
Van Gisbergen was fifth quickest, while Lowndes was 14th.
"We're very focused on getting second in the championship and I think at the moment we just need to find a little bit more speed," Lowndes said.
Whincup, to be officially crowned V8 Supercars' 2014 champion on Sunday - his record sixth in seven years - was 11th overall.
Holden were the dominant force on Friday, with Walkinshaw Racing trio Courtney, Garth Tander and Tim Slade the fastest three.
Ambrose's DJR stablemate Scott Pye was the best-placed Ford in fourth.
"We are going to mirror Scott Pye in terms of set up - he looks like he is going really well," Ambrose said.
"I have got to improve in the braking zones and clean my act up a bit behind the wheel."
A final practice session will be held on Saturday morning, before qualifying for the two 125km races in the afternoon.
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