Feeney outpaces Brown ahead of do-or-die shootout

With his hopes of snatching a unlikely Supercars title hanging by a thread, Broc Feeney isn't leaving anything in the tank.

The Triple Eight young gun topped the final practice session ahead of the penultimate race of the season with a 1:19.764 lap in challenging conditions, outpacing teammate and championship rival Will Brown for the first time this weekend.

Brown was second-fastest ahead of the top-10 shootout later on Saturday, less than two-tenths of a second behind.

"We were just focused on the shootout, so we were just doing one-lap runs all session," Feeney said.

"It's hard work out there but I think we're in a decent spot. Can always be happier though."

His frustration was shared by many drivers on the grid, with times well off the previous day's pace.

High winds and sweltering heat made life hard on the Adelaide street circuit, as did an oil slick left by a multi-car pile-up in the Trans Am series earlier in the morning.

Aaron Love found the slippery patch on the exit of turn 13 and shunted into the tyre wall, but was fortunate to drive off with just minor damage.

The engineers at Blanchard Racing Team will be working overtime to get the car in ship shape for the rookie driver's maiden top-10 shootout later in the day.

Brown will have the benefit of jumping last in the shootout after a trio of bizarre crashes cut qualifying short on Friday.

Richie Stanaway, Cam Hill and David Reynolds implausibly smashed into the same section of track after less than a third of the session had been run, triggering a red flag and an abrupt termination to the day's action.

Hill and Reynolds' Chevrolet Camaros especially suffered severe damage but their hard-working engineers toiled through the night and managed to resurrect their machines for Saturday's practice.

However, Reynolds was forced to head back into the Team 18 garage after a handful of laps with car troubles.

Feeney and thirty points are all that stand in the way of Brown securing a maiden Supercars championship with a race to spare.

Brown has comfortably been the season's most consistent driver, securing a podium in all 11 rounds so far.

With a 180-point lead over Feeney at the top of the standings, the 26-year-old can seal the championship with another top-three finish in Saturday's race.

Failing that, a 30-point advance on Feeney's placement will suffice.

Brown's strategic decision to go hard from the start of qualifying paid off, but other drivers who opted for a more gradual entry to qualifying were not so lucky.

Walkinshaw Andretti United's Chaz Mostert, who sits third on the standings but out of championship contention, was yet to set a consequential lap time before the stewards pulled the plug.

The top 10 shootout will get underway at 12.35pm (ACDT) on Saturday before race 23 of the Supercars season begins at 3.20pm.