KEY POINTS:
MANAMA - Ford's Mark Winterbottom topped the practice charts in Bahrain today, 24 hours after his Falcon was hanging sideways off a truck.
The cars of Winterbottom and teammate Steven Richards, as well as those of Holden Racing Team pilots Mark Skaife and Todd Kelly, were on the back of a freight truck that had a spectacular accident on the highway from the Bahrain International Airport to the Bahrain International Circuit yesterday.
But Winterbottom's car showed no ill-effects of the minor damage it suffered, clocking one minute 25.32 seconds to narrowly hold out V8 series leader Jamie Whincup by 0.0043sec.
Richards was third while Whincup's teammate Lowndes was fourth as Ford dominated the session.
Lee Holdsworth was best of the Holden contingent, finishing fifth fastest ahead of championship contender Rick Kelly and Holden rookie Shane Price.
Price, 20, put in one of his best drives of the year to be only half a second off the pace in sixth after his Jack Daniels Racing team had to change its livery because alcohol advertising is banned in Bahrain.
Holden's Garth Tander, who trails Whincup by nine points on the overall standings, struggled for 11th ahead of qualifying and race one tomorrow.
Skaife, whose car was worst damaged in the crash, was 20th.
The conditions were difficult for the drivers today, with temperatures soaring above 30C and about 50C inside the cabins.
Desert 400 practice times
1 Mark Winterbottom (Ford) 1min 25.3225sec
2 Jamie Whincup (Ford) 1:25.3268
3 Steven Richards (Ford) 1:25.6296
4 Craig Lowndes (Ford) 1:25.6947
5 Lee Holdsworth (Holden) 1:25.7331
6 Rick Kelly (Holden) 1:25.7387
7 Shane Price (Holden) 1:25.8170
8 Russell Ingall (Ford) 1:25.8287
9 James Courtney (Ford) 1:25.8504
10 Steven Johnson (Ford) 1:25.9061
(Circuit 3.6km)
- AAP
