Whincup scores pole in dramatic Race 10 qualifying

Jamie Whincup will start Race 10 of the V8 Supercars Championship from pole position after a red flag-hit 20 minute qualifying session at Barbagallo.

The red flags were required to retrieve David Wall from the Turn 7 sand pit with just 2:23s on the clock after the Wilson Security Holden endured a wild ride while trying to avoid those warming up their tyres on the back straight.

The stoppage came just as the majority were setting up for their final green tyre run, ensuring a mad scramble after the resumption.

Alex Davison had moved to the top seconds before the stoppage, but was subsequently trumped by Whincup, Jason Bright, Fabian Coulthard and Craig Lowndes.

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Whincup had been on the verge of being bumped from the top 20 prior to the red flags after completing just a single lap first ‘banker’.

Alex Davison did not go out after the restart and ended up fifth ahead of Mark Winterbottom, Alexandre Premat, Will Davison, Maro Engel and Chaz Mostert.

Will Davison’s session was hampered by a mistake on his first set of tyres, with the #6 team subsequently electing to do an early second run. Davison had been third at the time of the Wall stoppage.

Engel’s performance marks the best effort by an Erebus Mercedes driver, while Mostert enjoys the honour of starting from the top 10 on debut in the championship.

The first leg of Race 10 of the championship will get underway at 1345 local time.

See below for the full qualifying result

1	Red Bull Racing Australia	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore VF	0:55.3985
2	Team BOC	Jason Bright	Holden Commodore VF	0:55.4804	0:00.0819
3	Lockwood Racing	Fabian Coulthard	Holden Commodore VF	0:55.5115	0:00.1130
4	Red Bull Racing Australia	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore VF	0:55.5167	0:00.1182
5	Jeld-wen FPR Ford	Alex Davison	Ford Falcon FG	0:55.5373	0:00.1388
6	Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG	0:55.5417	0:00.1432
7	Fujitsu Racing GRM	Alexandre Premat	Holden Commodore VF	0:55.7298	0:00.3313
8	Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford	Will Davison	Ford Falcon FG	0:55.8044	0:00.4059
9	SP Tools Racing	Maro Engel	Mercedes E63 AMG	0:55.8572	0:00.4587
10	Wilson Security Racing	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG	0:55.8763	0:00.4778
11	TEKNO Team VIP	Shane Van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore VF	0:55.8960	0:00.4975
12	Fujitsu Racing GRM	Scott McLaughlin	Holden Commodore VF	0:55.9247	0:00.5262
13	Norton 360 Racing	James Moffat	Nissan Altima	0:55.9253	0:00.5268
14	Irwin Racing	Lee Holdsworth	Mercedes E63 AMG	0:55.9287	0:00.5302
15	The Bottle-O FPR Ford	David Reynolds	Ford Falcon FG	0:55.9360	0:00.5375
16	Holden Racing Team	James Courtney	Holden Commodore VF	0:55.9821	0:00.5836
17	Team HIFLEX	Tony D’Alberto	Holden Commodore VF	0:55.9850	0:00.5865
18	Tekno Autosports	Jonathon Webb	Holden Commodore VF	0:55.9862	0:00.5877
19	Holden Racing Team	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore VF	0:56.0480	0:00.6495
20	HHA Racing	Tim Slade	Mercedes E63 AMG	0:56.1154	0:00.7169
21	Dodo Insurance Racing	Dean Fiore	Holden Commodore VF	0:56.1249	0:00.7264
22	Supercheap Auto Racing	Russell Ingall	Holden Commodore VF	0:56.1317	0:00.7332
23	ekol Racing	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore VF	0:56.2120	0:00.8135
24	Norton 360 Racing	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	0:56.2245	0:00.8260
25	Wilson Security Racing	Tim Blanchard	Ford Falcon FG	0:56.2797	0:00.8812
26	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	0:56.2876	0:00.8891
27	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Todd Kelly	Nissan Altima	0:56.2931	0:00.8946
28	Wilson Security Racing	David Wall	Holden Commodore VF	0:56.3151	0:00.9166