Prodrive’s Chaz Mostert and Red Bull’s Craig Lowndes shared the Armor All Pole Awards ahead of the Saturday sprints at Queensland Raceway.
Provide again proved dominant on the hard rubber before Lowndes turned the tables on the softs in the second 10 minute session.
Race 18 Qualifying
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Chaz Mostert scored his seventh pole of the season in the hard tyre session that set the grid for Race 18.
The #6 Ford proved 0.25s clear of team-mate Mark Winterbottom, with Andre Heimgartner making it a Prodrive sweep in third.
Electing against a sighting run, Mostert sat last with just two minutes remaining before putting down the three fastest laps of the session, the second of which provided the pole time of 1:09.78s.
“When you start first practice you know if you’re onto a good thing,” he beamed, having topped Friday practice and Saturday morning’s opening hit-out.
“I didn’t want to be too sure but I knew we had a good car. It’s quick over one lap, now we’ve just got to make it quick over 20.”
A career best qualifying for Heimgartner meanwhile underlined the strength of the FG X Falcon package.
“The car was fantastic,” said the Kiwi. “I made a bit of a mistake so I’m surprised to be third. I’m absolutely stoked.”
Filling fourth through 10th were Scott McLaughlin, Craig Lowndes, Shane van Gisbergen, James Moffat, James Courtney, Scott Pye and David Reynolds completed the top 10.
Jason Bright will start from the back of the field after running off at Turn 3 on his green set of tyres.
Qualifying Race 19
Craig Lowndes narrowly edged Prodrive team-mates Mark Winterbottom and Chaz Mostert to score the 41st pole position of his career.
The single run on new soft tyres started in the dying minutes, with Lowndes’ first effort of 1:09.31s proving unbeatable.
The top three all failed to improve on their second laps, but had done enough to lock out the top spots.
“Obviously the guys have been working pretty hard and we made a change between the hard and the soft,” said Lowndes.
“It was encouraging on the hard but the soft is what we like. Now we’ve got to turn it into a result.”
Scott McLaughlin completed a solid qualifying effort with fourth ahead of Todd Kelly, David Reynolds, Ash Walsh, Jamie Whincup, Will Davison and opening session star Andre Heimgartner.
Fellow Kiwis Fabian Coulthard and Shane van Gisbergen both struggled and will start 21st and 22nd respectively.
Result: V8 Supercars Race 18 Qualifying, Queensland Raceway
1 | Pepsi Max Crew | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:09.77 | |
2 | Pepsi Max Crew | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:10.02 | 00.24 |
3 | Super Black Racing | Andre Heimgartner | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:10.03 | 00.26 |
4 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Volvo S60 | 1:10.05 | 00.28 |
5 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.07 | 00.30 |
6 | Team Darrell Lea STIX | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.13 | 00.36 |
7 | Nissan Motorsport | James Moffat | Nissan Altima | 1:10.13 | 00.36 |
8 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.16 | 00.39 |
9 | DJR Team Penske | Scott Pye | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:10.17 | 00.40 |
10 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:10.17 | 00.40 |
11 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.18 | 00.40 |
12 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.19 | 00.42 |
13 | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Ashley Walsh | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:10.20 | 00.42 |
14 | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Will Davison | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:10.22 | 00.45 |
15 | Freightliner Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.25 | 00.48 |
16 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.26 | 00.48 |
17 | Repair Management Aust Racing | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.26 | 00.49 |
18 | Nissan Motorsport | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 1:10.30 | 00.52 |
19 | Nissan Motorsport | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:10.35 | 00.58 |
20 | Walkinshaw Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.39 | 00.62 |
21 | GB Galvanizing Racing | Dale Wood | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.51 | 00.73 |
22 | Nissan Motorsport | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:10.64 | 00.87 |
23 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | David Wall | Volvo S60 | 1:10.68 | 00.91 |
24 | Team Cooldrive | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.88 | 01.11 |
25 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 1:11.14 | 01.37 |
Result: V8 Supercars Race 19 Qualifying, Queensland Raceway
1 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.31 | |
2 | Pepsi Max Crew | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:09.32 | 00.01 |
3 | Pepsi Max Crew | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:09.33 | 00.02 |
4 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Volvo S60 | 1:09.35 | 00.04 |
5 | Nissan Motorsport | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:09.41 | 00.10 |
6 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:09.43 | 00.12 |
7 | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Ashley Walsh | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:09.46 | 00.15 |
8 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.48 | 00.17 |
9 | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Will Davison | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:09.48 | 00.17 |
10 | Super Black Racing | Andre Heimgartner | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:09.55 | 00.24 |
11 | DJR Team Penske | Scott Pye | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:09.55 | 00.24 |
12 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.58 | 00.27 |
13 | Nissan Motorsport | James Moffat | Nissan Altima | 1:09.58 | 00.27 |
14 | Nissan Motorsport | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 1:09.64 | 00.33 |
15 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.65 | 00.34 |
16 | Nissan Motorsport | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:09.66 | 00.35 |
17 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.71 | 00.40 |
18 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.72 | 00.41 |
19 | Walkinshaw Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.74 | 00.43 |
20 | Repair Management Aust Racing | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.75 | 00.44 |
21 | Freightliner Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.78 | 00.47 |
22 | Team Darrell Lea STIX | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.79 | 00.48 |
23 | Team Cooldrive | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.88 | 00.57 |
24 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | David Wall | Volvo S60 | 1:09.89 | 00.58 |
25 | GB Galvanizing Racing | Dale Wood | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.07 | 00.76 |