Garth Tander has taken provisional pole for the 2011 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.
The Toll Holden Racing Team Commodore driver displaced TeamVodafone's Jamie Whincup from the top of the order by seting a 2:07.66s lap will less than two minutes remaining.
Ford Performance Racing's Mark Winterbottom slotted himself between the Holden drivers with a 2:07.72s effort immediately after Tander completed his lap.
Winterbottom then went fastest to the end of Sector 2 on his following circuit, but could do no better than 2:07.77s after a lock-up at The Chase.
Whincup's best time was set with more than 10 minutes remaining, as the championship leader proved unable to extract more speed from his Commodore upon returning to the track for the final eight minutes.
Third place still marked an impressive recovery for the #88 team after Whincup crashed the car in Practice 5, merely three hours prior to the commencement of qualifying.
Kelly Racing was the late surprise of the session, with David Reynolds and Greg Murphy jumping into the top five after the chequered flag fell.
Reynolds was the only driver able to join Tander, Winterbottom and Whincup in the 2:07s bracket – a remarkable effort after the Stratco Commodore required an engine change following issues in Practice 4 and 5.
Craig Lowndes, James Courtney, Lee Holdsworth, Shane van Gisbergen and Steve Owen rounded out the top 10 ahead of the Shootout tomorrow.
Van Gisbergen's threat for pole evaporated with a mistake on the entry to The Dipper on his final lap, moments before Jason Bargwanna crashed heavily at the same point of the circuit.
The performances of Reynolds and Murphy were in stark contrast to that of the sister Jack Daniel's Racing entries, with Rick and Todd Kelly ending the 40 minutes 16th and 19th respectively.
Jason Bright was also surprisingly off the pace in 18th, while Steven Johnson was an equally disappointing 24th.
See below for the full qualifying result
1 | Toll Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:07.6640 | |
2 | Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 2:07.7187 | 0:00.0547 |
3 | TeamVodafone | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:07.7408 | 0:00.0768 |
4 | Stratco Racing | David Reynolds | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:07.8371 | 0:00.1731 |
5 | Pepsi Max Crew | Greg Murphy | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:07.9126 | 0:00.2486 |
6 | TeamVodafone | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:08.0024 | 0:00.3384 |
7 | Toll Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:08.0035 | 0:00.3395 |
8 | SP Tools Racing | Shane Van Gisbergen | Ford Falcon FG | 2:08.0955 | 0:00.4315 |
9 | VIP Petfoods | Steve Owen | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:08.1411 | 0:00.4771 |
10 | Trading Post FPR Falcon | Will Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 2:08.1982 | 0:00.5342 |
11 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | Paul Dumbrell | Ford Falcon FG | 2:08.2443 | 0:00.5803 |
12 | Irwin Racing | Alex Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 2:08.2887 | 0:00.6247 |
13 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:08.0942 | 0:00.4302* |
14 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Michael Caruso | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:08.4464 | 0:00.7824 |
15 | Lucky 7 Racing | Tim Slade | Ford Falcon FG | 2:08.4721 | 0:00.8081 |
16 | Jack Daniel's Racing | Rick Kelly | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:08.5250 | 0:00.8610 |
17 | Jim Beam Racing | James Moffat | Ford Falcon FG | 2:08.6631 | 0:00.9991 |
18 | Team Boc | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:08.6681 | 0:01.0041 |
19 | Jack Daniel's Racing | Todd Kelly | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:08.7271 | 0:01.0631 |
20 | Bundaberg Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:08.7746 | 0:01.1106 |
21 | Jana Living Racing | Jason Bargwanna | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:09.1155 | 0:01.4515 |
22 | Gulf Western Oil Racing | Warren Luff | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:09.1503 | 0:01.4863 |
23 | Wilson Security Team | Tony D'Alberto | Ford Falcon FG | 2:09.1948 | 0:01.5308 |
24 | Jim Beam Racing | Steven Johnson | Ford Falcon FG | 2:09.3076 | 0:01.6436 |
25 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:09.3328 | 0:01.6688 |
26 | Mother Energy Racing Team | Jonathon Webb | Ford Falcon FG | 2:09.4017 | 0:01.7377 |
27 | Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing | Karl Reindler | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:09.4020 | 0:01.7380 |
28 | Triple F Racing | Dean Fiore | Ford Falcon FG | 2:10.0191 | 0:02.3551 |
29 | Shannons Mars Racing | Grant Denyer | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:11.7371 | 0:04.0731 |
*Lee Holdsworth was handed a five place penalty for failing to present his car for weighing at the conclusion of qualifying