Craig Lowndes has made the perfect start to Sunday's track action at Hidden Valley, using just one set of soft tyres on his way to pole position for Race 19.
With each driver given two sets of softs to use today, teams were left to choose between doing two runs in qualifying, or keeping one set brand new for the race.
Lowndes put in a stunning 1:08.75s effort on his first set softs, after which he watched the final flurry of times from the Red Bull garage.
Team-mate Jamie Whincup was 0.27s adrift on his first run and then fell 0.09s short of stealing pole on his second.
David Reynolds, Jason Bright, James Courtney, Fabian Coulthard, Shane van Gisbergen, Chaz Mostert, Russell Ingall and Mark Winterbottom completed the top 10.
Michael Caruso and David Wall were the only other drivers that did not complete two soft tyre runs.
Caruso sat out much of the session before going 21st with his lap, while Wall, who had planned two soft tyre runs, failed to turn a flying lap at all due to power steering problems.
Of the 22 who did two soft tyre runs, only Winterbottom and Swede Robert Dahlgren failed to improve with their second effort.
The 200km Race 19 is scheduled for 1515 local time.
Qualifying – Race 19
1 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 01:08.75 | |
2 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 01:08.84 | 00:00.09 |
3 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG | 01:08.88 | 00:00.13 |
4 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 01:08.89 | 00:00.14 |
5 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 01:08.90 | 00:00.15 |
6 | Lockwood Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VF | 01:08.91 | 00:00.16 |
7 | Team Tekno VIP Petfoods | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 01:08.93 | 00:00.18 |
8 | Ford Pepsi Max Crew | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG | 01:09.05 | 00:00.30 |
9 | Repair Management Aust Racing | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VF | 01:09.10 | 00:00.35 |
10 | Ford Pepsi Max Crew | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 01:09.10 | 00:00.35 |
11 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 01:09.10 | 00:00.35 |
12 | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Will Davison | Mercedes E63 AMG | 01:09.14 | 00:00.39 |
13 | Valvoline Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Volvo S60 | 01:09.17 | 00:00.42 |
14 | Jack Daniel's Racing | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 01:09.22 | 00:00.47 |
15 | Walkinshaw Racing | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | 01:09.24 | 00:00.49 |
16 | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Lee Holdsworth | Mercedes E63 AMG | 01:09.25 | 00:00.50 |
17 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 01:09.25 | 00:00.50 |
18 | Team JELD-WEN | Jack Perkins | Ford Falcon FG | 01:09.33 | 00:00.58 |
19 | Wilson Security Racing | Scott Pye | Ford Falcon FG | 01:09.37 | 00:00.62 |
20 | Jack Daniel's Racing | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 01:09.38 | 00:00.63 |
21 | Norton Hornets | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 01:09.45 | 00:00.70 |
22 | Norton Hornets | James Moffat | Nissan Altima | 01:09.47 | 00:00.72 |
23 | Team Advam/GB | Dale Wood | Holden Commodore VF | 01:09.49 | 00:00.74 |
24 | Valvoline Racing GRM | Robert Dahlgren | Volvo S60 | 01:09.66 | 00:00.91 |
25 | Wilson Security Racing | David Wall | Ford Falcon FG |