In-form Ford star Scott McLaughlin concedes he will need to improve to continue his golden Supercars run after Chaz Mostert topped practice in Townsville.
Mostert's lap of one minute and 12.2648 seconds was 0.1627 quicker than McLaughlin, who was second fastest on Friday.
McLaughlin hasn't emerged winless from the last three rounds, scooping four of the six races at Perth, Winton and Darwin.
He has won pole position seven times and has been in the opening pair for all but two of the season's opening 12 races.
But McLaughlin says he will have to find some extra pace to beat Mostert for prime position on the grid for Saturday's 200km race.
"We've got to chase down Chaz. He's bloody quick at the moment so we'll have to have a good crack at it," McLaughlin said.
The flying New Zealander's form has launched him into second in the championship standings, 10 points adrift of DJR Team Penske teammate Fabian Coulthard.
While he looms as a serious threat to grab his maiden Supercars title, McLaughlin isn't taking too much time to focus on the bigger picture.
"The whole year we work towards the points and work for (the championship)," he said.
"But at this stage you take every race as it comes and try and do the best with what you've got."
Drivers will contend with heat and humidity through the weekend, with Mostert admitting he was "cooked" after driving without a cool suit on Friday.
"It's going to be a hard race," Mostert said.
"I think that we need to do a couple of changes.
"As the tyre gets one heat cycle in it, it obviously degrades around here being a street track and being quite hot."
Qualifying for Saturday's race kicks off at 12.30pm AEST.
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