The 2017 champion was fourth fastest in the opening session with a time of 2:05.56, around half a second slower than pacesetter Cameron Waters.

"That first session is always a tricky one," Reynolds said.

"The track is really slippery because it hasn't been used, so caution is best on day one.

"But our car was nice, we didn't use new tyres in the first session and were only half a second off the lead, so that's good sign.

"It's only Thursday so it's a long way to 5pm Sunday, but to be first across the line on Sunday you need to build your week, one session, one day at a time, so it's been a good first day."

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Reynolds' teammate Will Brown figured strongly in the co-driver session finishing seventh, but only three tenths off first.

"Really happy with Will's effort today. We couldn't have asked for anymore, his feedback was good, but he drove it quick and brought it back in one piece, so we are way ahead of last year," Reynolds said.

The Albury-born star was on the back foot early last year when co-driver Luke Youlden put their car into a wall on the Thursday, resulting in an all-night repair job.

They recovered to finish seventh in the race but didn't ever threaten for the win.

It was a different story for Brad Jones Racing, with their cars not quite finding pace early, but they didn't strike any trouble either.

Team boss Brad Jones was circumspect about their first day of practice.

"Not a bad day for BJR but not quite a good day either," he said.

"It would have been nice to have unlocked a bit more pace from all our cars today.

"The boys are saying there are okay to drive but we just didn't have the speed of the front runners.

"Nick (Percat) struggled to get a clear run, so we know he has more up his sleeve, but it's nice to see on the board rather just in theory.

Percat turned his fortunes around in the second practice session to finish fifth with a time of 2:04.99, while Reynolds was well down the order in 18th spot.

Albury's Jordan Boys didn't make the debut he would have dreamed of down in 20th in the co-driver session, one and half seconds off the leader.

"We'll leave the setup to Todd (Hazelwood) mostly, but we need to find some speed for sure," Boys said.

"The main game cars are definitely better to drive, it's not one thing, they just do everything a bit better than a Super2 car.

"There's no point trying to be fastest on Thursday and having a big shunt - we'll play the long game."