Will Davison and Jason Bright have shared the Armor All Pole Awards in a dramatic pair of qualifying sessions on the streets of Sydney Olympic Park.
The first 10 minute hit-out, setting the grid for Race 36, saw Marcos Ambrose and Craig Lowndes crash at Turn 5 in separate incidents.
Ambrose broke the right-front of his Falcon after tagging the outside wall, while Lowndes slammed the same barrier seconds later, causing major damage to his Holden.
Despite the severity of the latter’s hit, both cars are expected to return for this afternoon’s pair of 125km races.
“I’m feeling fine, but I’m just disappointed,” said Lowndes of his crash.
“The car was hooked up, we had a good first sector and I just turned in, clipped the inside kerb and it fired me across.”
Ambrose’s crash was meanwhile attributed to a misjudged downshift, which unsettled the back of the Xbox Ford, sending it into the wall.
Davison had set his best time just seconds prior to the red flag stoppage, which came with a minute remaining.
With no time for any further flying laps, officials elected not to restart the session, handing Erebus its first ever pole.
“In terms of a stat I’m just rapt for the team,” said Davison afterwards. “It’s really special to be able to deliver that for them.”
Jamie Whincup will start second in Race 36 ahead of David Reynolds, Tim Slade and David Wall.
The result was a solid boost for Erebus after a failure in morning practice saw Lee Holdsworth hit the Turn 5 concrete, ensuring he missed both qualifying sessions.
Despite a cleaner run the second session again provided a surprise result, with Bright out-gunning Shane van Gisbergen, Scott McLaughlin and Whincup to pole.
Bright recorded a 1:27.79s best with just seconds remaining; a time that Van Gisbergen subsequently fell short of by 0.08s.
“It’s been a challenging weekend so far. It’s a wild joint and we didn’t feel we’d be reaching our potential that we had last year,” said Bright.
“The car has been strong but I’ve been getting too much air off some of the kerbs. I drove it pretty straight then and just punched out a pretty good number.”
Race 36 is scheduled to get underway at 1430 local time.
Result: V8 Supercars Race 36 qualifying, Sydney
1 |
Erebus Motorsport V8 |
Will Davison |
Mercedes E63 AMG |
01:28.76 |
|
2 |
Red Bull Racing Australia |
Jamie Whincup |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:28.82 |
00:00.05 |
3 |
The Bottle-O Racing Team |
David Reynolds |
Ford Falcon FG |
01:28.83 |
00:00.06 |
4 |
Supercheap Auto Racing |
Tim Slade |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:28.98 |
00:00.22 |
5 |
Wilson Security Racing |
David Wall |
Ford Falcon FG |
01:29.08 |
00:00.31 |
6 |
Valvoline Racing GRM |
Scott McLaughlin |
Volvo S60 |
01:29.11 |
00:00.34 |
7 |
Jack Daniel's Racing |
Rick Kelly |
Nissan Altima |
01:29.13 |
00:00.36 |
8 |
Ford Pepsi Max Crew |
Mark Winterbottom |
Ford Falcon FG |
01:29.19 |
00:00.42 |
9 |
Lockwood Racing |
Fabian Coulthard |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:29.22 |
00:00.45 |
10 |
Ford Pepsi Max Crew |
Chaz Mostert |
Ford Falcon FG |
01:29.26 |
00:00.50 |
11 |
Team BOC |
Jason Bright |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:29.34 |
00:00.57 |
12 |
Jack Daniel's Racing |
Todd Kelly |
Nissan Altima |
01:29.34 |
00:00.58 |
13 |
Team JELD-WEN |
Jack Perkins |
Ford Falcon FG |
01:29.37 |
00:00.61 |
14 |
Norton Hornets |
James Moffat |
Nissan Altima |
01:29.38 |
00:00.62 |
15 |
Team Advam/GB |
Dale Wood |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:29.90 |
00:01.14 |
16 |
Valvoline Racing GRM |
Robert Dahlgren |
Volvo S60 |
01:30.12 |
00:01.36 |
17 |
Norton Hornets |
Michael Caruso |
Nissan Altima |
01:30.83 |
00:02.06 |
18 |
Team Tekno VIP Petfoods |
Shane Van Gisbergen |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:32.54 |
00:03.78 |
19 |
Walkinshaw Racing |
Nick Percat |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:32.88 |
00:04.12 |
20 |
Red Bull Racing Australia |
Craig Lowndes |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:35.77 |
00:07.01 |
21 |
Holden Racing Team |
Garth Tander |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:36.51 |
00:07.75 |
22 |
Holden Racing Team |
James Courtney |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:37.71 |
00:08.95 |
23 |
Wilson Security Racing |
Scott Pye |
Ford Falcon FG |
01:40.15 |
00:11.38 |
24 |
XBOX Racing DJR |
Marcos Ambrose |
Ford Falcon FG |
03:58.27 |
02:29.51 |
25 |
Repair Management Aust Racing |
Russell Ingall |
Holden Commodore VF |
03:20.78 |
Result: V8 Supercars Race 37 qualifying, Sydney
1 |
Team BOC |
Jason Bright |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:27.79 |
|
2 |
Team Tekno VIP Petfoods |
Shane Van Gisbergen |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:27.87 |
00:00.08 |
3 |
Valvoline Racing GRM |
Scott McLaughlin |
Volvo S60 |
01:27.91 |
00:00.12 |
4 |
Red Bull Racing Australia |
Jamie Whincup |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:27.92 |
00:00.14 |
5 |
Holden Racing Team |
James Courtney |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:28.10 |
00:00.31 |
6 |
Ford Pepsi Max Crew |
Mark Winterbottom |
Ford Falcon FG |
01:28.27 |
00:00.48 |
7 |
The Bottle-O Racing Team |
David Reynolds |
Ford Falcon FG |
01:28.31 |
00:00.52 |
8 |
Supercheap Auto Racing |
Tim Slade |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:28.35 |
00:00.56 |
9 |
Holden Racing Team |
Garth Tander |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:28.47 |
00:00.68 |
10 |
Lockwood Racing |
Fabian Coulthard |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:28.54 |
00:00.75 |
11 |
Wilson Security Racing |
Scott Pye |
Ford Falcon FG |
01:28.56 |
00:00.77 |
12 |
Ford Pepsi Max Crew |
Chaz Mostert |
Ford Falcon FG |
01:28.57 |
00:00.78 |
13 |
Walkinshaw Racing |
Nick Percat |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:28.60 |
00:00.81 |
14 |
Jack Daniel's Racing |
Rick Kelly |
Nissan Altima |
01:28.62 |
00:00.83 |
15 |
Jack Daniel's Racing |
Todd Kelly |
Nissan Altima |
01:28.68 |
00:00.89 |
16 |
Norton Hornets |
Michael Caruso |
Nissan Altima |
01:28.76 |
00:00.97 |
17 |
Team Advam/GB |
Dale Wood |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:28.82 |
00:01.03 |
18 |
Erebus Motorsport V8 |
Will Davison |
Mercedes E63 AMG |
01:28.83 |
00:01.04 |
19 |
Repair Management Aust Racing |
Russell Ingall |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:28.95 |
00:01.17 |
20 |
Norton Hornets |
James Moffat |
Nissan Altima |
01:29.03 |
00:01.24 |
21 |
Wilson Security Racing |
David Wall |
Ford Falcon FG |
01:29.07 |
00:01.28 |
22 |
Valvoline Racing GRM |
Robert Dahlgren |
Volvo S60 |
01:29.08 |
00:01.29 |
23 |
Team JELD-WEN |
Jack Perkins |
Ford Falcon FG |
01:29.38 |
00:01.59 |