The half-hour session got underway in hot conditions, Dick Johnson Racing driver Anton De Pasquale setting the early benchmark with a 1m19.814s.
At the midway point in the session Scott Pye took over top spot courtesy of a 1m19.504s from the hometown hero.
That lasted four minutes before Practice 1 pacesetter Thomas Randle set a new unofficial lap record, a 1m19.232s.
That the almost held on through the happy hour at the end of the session, only for van Gisbergen to edge Randle by three-hundredths on his final green tyre run.
Top spot could easily have gone to Cam Waters who was on for a rapid lap on his final run.
That was until he swiped the wall in the last sector which cost him a few tenths and left him third on a 1m19.301s.
"I was on a really good lap and I kept attacking," explained Waters.
"It's practice, I wanted to find what the limits were. I went a little bit hard, it got loose and spat me into the wall.
"That's okay. We were on for a pretty good lap, I think it was probably going to be a 1m19.05s."
Broc Feeney was fourth fastest for Triple Eight, just under three-tenths behind his teammate, ahead of Will Davison and Pye, who didn't improve on his earlier lap.
Chaz Mostert ended up seventh fastest from De Pasquale, James Golding and Andre Heimgartner.
The action continues this evening with qualifying at 5:35pm.
