Andrew Thompson has snatched pole position from Jack Perkins in a wild Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series qualifying session at Mount Panorama.
Thompson, who failed to set a representative time during the opening half of the session after running down the Hell Corner escape road on his first flyer, jumped to the top of the sheets after the chequered flag fell – his 2:09.85s undercutting Perkins by less than a tenth of a second.
The Sonic Motor Racing Services driver held on for second, while David Russell, Nick Percat, Paul Morris, Rodney Jane, Tim Blanchard, Daniel Jilesen, Scott McLaughlin and yesterday's pace-setter Chaz Mostert rounded out the top 10.
Ash Walsh and Drew Russell both brought out red flags during the scheduled 30 minutes, with the two drivers emerging unscathed after making heavy contact with the walls in separate incidents at the top of the Mountain.
Less than five minutes of the session had elapsed before Walsh's Falcon failed to negotiate the right-hander at Reid Park, while Russell slid wide of the racing line across ‘the grate' at Sulman Park some 10 minutes later – clobbering the outside wall.
Russell's red flag resulted in less than 10 minutes of green flag running at the end of the session, with Perkins (2:10.07s) knocking Russell (2:10.96s) from the top of the sheets upon the resumption of play.
Perkins then went faster again (2:09.95s) on his next lap, before failing to improve further on his final attempt.
Percat's session got off to an exciting start, with the Coates Hire Commodore's driver's side window popping out heading into The Chase on his out-lap, before the youngster narrowly held onto a major slide through McPhillamy Park on his first flyer.
Track conditions continued to improve following early morning ran, with the entire qualifying session run on slick tyres.
Race 1 for the Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series will take place at 13:20 local time.
See below for the full qualifying result
1 | Triple Eight Race Engineering | Andrew Thompson | Holden Commodore VE | 2:09.8488 | |
2 | Supercheap / Bob Jane T Marts | Jack Perkins | Ford Falcon BF | 2:09.9477 | 0:00.0989 |
3 | Team Jayco | David Russell | Ford Falcon BF | 2:10.0746 | 0:00.2258 |
4 | Coates Hire Racing | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VE | 2:10.1695 | 0:00.3207 |
5 | Sargent Security Racing | Paul Morris | Holden Commodore VE | 2:11.1184 | 0:01.2696 |
6 | Bob Jane T-Marts | Rodney Jane | Ford Falcon FG | 2:11.2904 | 0:01.4416 |
7 | Team Jayco | Tim Blanchard | Ford Falcon BF | 2:11.4366 | 0:01.5878 |
8 | R&J Batteries/EarthEx/KingGee | Daniel Jilesen | Holden Commodore VE | 2:11.9254 | 0:02.0766 |
9 | Fujitsu | Scott McLaughlin | Ford Falcon BF | 2:12.1522 | 0:02.3034 |
10 | Simpro Software/Master Elect. | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon BF | 2:12.3432 | 0:02.4944 |
11 | Wilson Security Team McGrath | David Wall | Holden Commodore VE | 2:12.4504 | 0:02.6016 |
12 | Fastaz Motorsport | Taz Douglas | Holden Commodore VZ | 2:13.2511 | 0:03.4023 |
13 | Midway Concrete&Garden Supply | Marcus Zukanovic | Holden Commodore VE | 2:13.4894 | 0:03.6406 |
14 | ACDelco/Simworx/NDD | Geoff Emery | Holden Commodore VE | 2:13.7800 | 0:03.9312 |
15 | Mad Croc Energy | Robert Cregan | Ford Falcon BF | 2:14.0476 | 0:04.1988 |
16 | GARMIN | Tom Tweedie | Ford Falcon BF | 2:14.5230 | 0:04.6742 |
17 | Drill Pro Services/EarthEx | James Brock | Holden Commodore VE | 2:14.7832 | 0:04.9344 |
18 | CEG Rentals/Go Karts Go | Aaren Russell | Ford Falcon BF | 2:15.0960 | 0:05.2472 |
19 | Warrin Mining Volvo Const Eq. | Adam Wallis | Holden Commodore VE | 2:15.9174 | 0:06.0686 |
20 | Favourit.com / AFS | Tony Bates | Holden Commodore VE | 2:16.1716 | 0:06.3228 |
21 | SOLO / NCSS | Aaron McGill | Ford Falcon BF | 2:16.7024 | 0:06.8536 |
22 | Freestones Roadhaven | Paul Freestone | Ford Falcon BF | 2:17.1881 | 0:07.3393 |
23 | Bisley Workwear | Colin Sieders | Ford Falcon BF | 2:17.5007 | 0:07.6519 |
24 | Flexi Staff | Todd Fiore | Ford Falcon BF | 2:17.6124 | 0:07.7636 |
25 | Formula Tech/Interquip Racing | Brett Stewart | Holden Commodore VE | 2:20.4673 | 0:10.6185 |
26 | Voight Constructing | Steve Voight | Holden Commodore VE | 2:28.4500 | 0:18.6012 |
27 | Carrington Eq/Go Karts Go | Drew Russell | Ford Falcon BF | *:**.**** | 8:16.1125 |
Simpro Software/Master Elect. | Ashley Walsh | Ford Falcon BF |