Alex Davison takes Pro driver fastest qualifying time
An animated Alex Davison talks to team owner Andy McElrea as Tony Bates looks on
Accomplished Porsche racer Alex Davison has rocketted to the fastest time in the qualifying session for Pro drivers at the Rennsport Motor Racing Festival at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Davison (#24 Pure Energy/N2U) unleashed a 1:30.7481s lap to narrowly claim the fastest time ahead of Steve Owen (#47 Supabarn Supermarkets) in 1:30.7510s.
The Kiwi driver Jonny Reid, who was called up at the last minute to replace Lee Holdsworth who had been delayed in the US after the V8 Supercars meeting, was third quickest.
Steve Richards (1:30.9394s) and Tim Slade (1:30.956s) were next fastest.
Championship leading Craig Baird was 11th fastest in the session.
Davison had shown decent speed in the practice sessions and was stoked to top the times in what is being claimed as the strongest line-up of talent in Australian Carrera Cup field history.
“I was surprised because the car doesn’t feel that good,” Davison told Speedcafe.com
“I had dramas in practice with the brakes but we were able to rectify that.
“We still have work to do to get the balance a bit better so I’m not confident we have got a good race package yet.
“Everyone has been saying that they wanted to get on the pole so I’m stoked that it was me.”
Davison’s team-mate Tony Bates was seventh fastest in the session for Elite drivers which was topped by Adam Gowans.
However on combined times the pole position has been taken by Steve Owen and James Koundouris with Shae Davies and Adam Gowans starting in second.
Davison/Bates will start from third ahead of Warren Luff/Geoff Emery.
Baird and his partner John Penny will start from 12th after finishing with an accumulated time of 3:04.925s, 1.6s slower than Owen and Koundouris.
Both Pro and Elite drivers must start in at least one of the two one-hour heats tomorrow with the driver change window set between 25-35 minutes into the races.
Results: Carrera Cup Pro driver qualifying
| 1 | Pure Energy/ N2U | Alex Davison (QLD) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:30.7481 |
| 2 | Supabarn Supermarkets | Steve Owen (QLD) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:30.7510 |
| 3 | Hallmarc | Jonny Reid (NZ) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:30.9374 |
| 4 | Laser Plumbing & Electrical | Steven Richards (VIC) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:30.9394 |
| 5 | Hallmarc | Tim Slade (VIC) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:30.9565 |
| 6 | Grove Group | Earl Bamber (NZ) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:30.9812 |
| 7 | No Second Chance | Warren Luff (NSW) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:31.0132 |
| 8 | Ausdrill – Onsite Racing | Michael Patrizi (WA) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:31.0673 |
| 9 | Coates Hire Racing | Nicholas Percat (SA) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:31.1739 |
| 10 | Rosche Visper | David Wall (NSW) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:31.2960 |
| 11 | Jet Travel Insurance | Craig Baird (NZ) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:31.3736 |
| 12 | Porsche Centre Brighton | Dale Wood (VIC) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:31.3812 |
| 13 | Permagard Automotive | Luke Youlden (VIC) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:31.5154 |
| 14 | Team Kiwi Racing | Shae Davies (NZ) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:31.5777 |
| 15 | Action Tyres and More | Matthew Kingsley (QLD) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:31.6035 |
| 16 | Objective Racing | James Davison (USA) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:31.6058 |
| 17 | GT3 Factory / Wrap My Ride | Richard Muscat (VIC) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:31.6334 |
| 18 | McGrath Estate Agents | David Russell (QLD) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:31.6945 |
| 19 | Malibu Boats | Andrew Jones (NSW) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:32.1205 |
| 20 | Team BRM / Rentcorp NSWProperty | Duvashen Padayachee | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:32.1947 |
| 21 | Fujitsu Racing | Renee Gracie (QLD) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:34.3596 |
Results: Carrera Cup Elite driver qualifying
| 1 | Team Kiwi Racing | Adam Gowans (TAS) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:32.1324 |
| 2 | Supabarn Supermarkets | James Koundouris (ACT) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:32.5645 |
| 3 | Permagard Automotive | Max Twigg (VIC) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:32.7849 |
| 4 | No Second Chance | Geoff Emery (VIC) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:32.8868 |
| 5 | Ausdrill – Onsite Racing | Troy Bayliss (QLD) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:32.9566 |
| 6 | Action Tyres and More | John Goodacre (SA) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:33.0093 |
| 7 | Pure Energy/ N2U | Tony Bates (VIC) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:33.0765 |
| 8 | McGrath Estate Agents | Shane Smollen (NSW) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:33.1924 |
| 9 | Laser Plumbing & Electrical | Theo Koundouris (ACT) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:33.3125 |
| 10 | Coates Hire Racing | Rodney Jane (VIC) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:33.5471 |
| 11 | Jet Travel Insurance | John Penny (NZ) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:33.5508 |
| 12 | Objective Racing | Tony Walls (NSW) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:33.5737 |
| 13 | Rosche Visper | Damien Flack (QLD) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:33.7043 |
| 14 | Hallmarc | Michael Loccisano (VIC) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:33.7478 |
| 15 | Porsche Centre Brighton | James Bergmuller (VIC) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:33.8011 |
| 16 | Fujitsu Racing | Peter Hill (VIC) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:33.8267 |
| 17 | Team BRM / Rentcorp (VIC) Property | Jeff Bobik | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:34.2314 |
| 18 | Hallmarc | Marc Cini (VIC) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:34.3558 |
| 19 | Grove Group | Stephen Grove (VIC) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:34.7136 |
| 20 | Malibu Boats | Xavier West (NSW) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:34.9840 |
| 21 | GT3 Factory / Wrap My Ride | Simon Middleton (VIC) | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 1:35.5288 |
Starting grid based on combined times from the Pro and Elite driver qualifying
| 1 | Steve Owen/James Koundouris | 3:03.316s |
| 2 | Shae Davies/Adam Gowans | 3:03.710 |
| 3 | Alex Davison/Tony Bates | 3:03.825 |
| 4 | Warren Luff/Geoff Emery | 3:03900 |
| 5 | Michael Patrizi/Troy Bayliss | 3:04.024 |
| 6 | Steven Richards/Theo Koundouris | 3:04.252 |
| 7 | Luke Youlden/Max Twigg | 3:04.300 |
| 8 | Matthew Kingsley/John Goodacre | 3:04.613 |
| 9 | Jonny Reid/Michael Loccisano | 3:04.685 |
| 10 | Nicholas Percat/Rodney Jane | 3:04.721 |
| 11 | David Russell/Shane Smollen | 3:04.887 |
| 12 | Craig Baird/John Penny | 3:04.925 |
| 13 | David Wall/Damien Flack | 3:05.000 |
| 14 | James Davison/Tony Walls | 3:05.180 |
| 15 | Dale Wood/James Bergmuller | 3:05.182 |
| 16 | Tim Slade/Marc Cini | 3:05.313 |
| 17 | Earl Bamber/Stephen Grove | 3:05.695 |
| 18 | Duvashen Padayachee/Jeff Bobik | 3:06.426 |
| 19 | Andrew Jones/Xavier West | 3:07.105 |
| 20 | Richard Muscat/Simon Middleton | 3:07.162 |
| 21 | Renne Gracie/Peter Hill | 3:08.187 |
Here is the interview with Steve Owen and James Koundouris who will start from the pole