Coulthard scores poles as Red Bulls struggle

Fabian Coulthard continued his strong form at Winton Motor Raceway with a pair of record-setting pole positions for Races 7 and 8 of the championship.

The Lockwood Holden proved the car to beat in both sessions, recording bests of 1:20.04s and 1:19.65s in the respective 10 minute hit-outs to secure the two poles.

The second effort was more than a second quicker than the time he’d set to top practice on Friday.

Track conditions proved ideal for fast times, with workers having swept the tarmac last night to remove the remaining traces of loose sealant that had wreaked havoc with the early practice running.

Both races will feature all-Kiwi front-rows, with Shane van Gisbergen second in the opening session and Scott McLaughlin the runner-up in the second.

Van Gisbergen had been one of few to complete two new tyres runs in the first session and held sway at the top of the order for much of the going.

The Kiwi was eclipsed by Michael Caruso and then James Moffat as the session drew towards its conclusion, before Coulthard put down his unbeatable time with just a minute remaining.

Van Gisbergen’s second run was good enough for second ahead of an impressive Dale Wood, who scored a career best aboard the third Brad Jones Racing Holden.

Craig Lowndes will start Race 7 from fourth, a full 10 places ahead of Red Bull team-mate Jamie Whincup.

The going got even tougher for Red Bull in Race 8 qualifying, with Whincup 21st and Lowndes 23rd.

McLaughlin had held sway at the top for much of the second session having gone 0.6s clear of the field with his first set of tyres.

Coulthard lowered the benchmark by a further 0.25s with 90 seconds on the clock and while McLaughlin improved his time in the dying moments, he could not eclipse the Lockwood Holden.

It was a mixed morning for Ford Performance Racing star Mark Winterbottom, who bounced back from 24th in the first session to be sixth in the second.

Race 8 qualifying was somewhat of a renaissance for the Ford contingent, with David Reynolds, Winterbottom, Chaz Mostert and Scott Pye all in the top 10.

Mostert had been the only Ford in the top half of the Race 7 session.

There was disaster for Russell Ingall as mechanical problems kept the LDM Holden 25th in the first session and unable to turn a lap in the second.

Nick Percat’s Walkinshaw Holden also struck drama, billowing smoke in the closing minutes, ensuring the South Australian could not repeat his solid eighth from the opening session.

Races 7 and 8 of the championship, both over 100km, will take place from 1400 and 1625 local time.

See below for the full Qualifying result for Race 7 

Position	Driver	Team	Car	Time	Difference
1	Fabian Coulthard	Lockwood Racing	Holden Commodore VF	1:20.0444R
2	Shane Van Gisbergen	Team Tekno VIP Petfoods	Holden Commodore VF	1:20.0732r	0:00.0288
3	Dale Wood	Team Advam/GB	Holden Commodore VF	1:20.2530r	0:00.2086
4	Craig Lowndes	Red Bull Racing Australia	Holden Commodore VF	1:20.3559r	0:00.3115
5	James Moffat	Norton Hornets	Nissan Altima	1:20.4212r	0:00.3768
6	Jason Bright	Team BOC	Holden Commodore VF	1:20.6428r	0:00.5984
7	Rick Kelly	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Nissan Altima	1:20.6470r	0:00.6026
8	Nick Percat	Walkinshaw Racing	Holden Commodore VF	1:20.6699r	0:00.6255
9	Chaz Mostert	Ford Pepsi Max Crew	Ford Falcon FG	1:20.6774r	0:00.6330
10	Garth Tander	Holden Racing Team	Holden Commodore VF	1:20.7047r	0:00.6603
11	Michael Caruso	Norton Hornets	Nissan Altima	1:20.7514r	0:00.7070
12	Scott McLaughlin	Valvoline Racing GRM	Volvo S60	1:20.7564r	0:00.7120
13	Lee Holdsworth	Erebus Motorsport V8	Mercedes E63 AMG	1:20.8087	0:00.7643
14	Jamie Whincup	Red Bull Racing Australia	Holden Commodore VF	1:20.8643	0:00.8199
15	Tim Slade	Supercheap Auto Racing	Holden Commodore VF	1:20.9202	0:00.8758
16	Scott Pye	Wilson Security Racing	Ford Falcon FG	1:20.9385	0:00.8941
17	James Courtney	Holden Racing Team	Holden Commodore VF	1:20.9656	0:00.9212
18	David Reynolds	The Bottle-O Racing Team	Ford Falcon FG	1:20.9693	0:00.9249
19	David Wall	Wilson Security Racing	Ford Falcon FG	1:20.9709	0:00.9265
20	Will Davison	Erebus Motorsport V8	Mercedes E63 AMG	1:21.0491	0:01.0047
21	Todd Kelly	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Nissan Altima	1:21.1806	0:01.1362
22	Robert Dahlgren	Valvoline Racing GRM	Volvo S60	1:21.3856	0:01.3412
23	Jack Perkins	Team JELD-WEN	Ford Falcon FG	1:21.3886	0:01.3442
24	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Pepsi Max Crew	Ford Falcon FG	1:21.4412	0:01.3968
25	Russell Ingall	Repair Management Aust Racing	Holden Commodore VF	1:21.4457	0:01.4013

 

See below for the full Qualifying result for Race 8 

Position	Driver	Team	Car	Time	Difference
1	Fabian Coulthard	Lockwood Racing	Holden Commodore VF	1:19.6538R
2	Scott McLaughlin	Valvoline Racing GRM	Volvo S60	1:19.8005r	0:00.1467
3	Shane Van Gisbergen	Team Tekno VIP Petfoods	Holden Commodore VF	1:19.9782r	0:00.3244
4	Lee Holdsworth	Erebus Motorsport V8	Mercedes E63 AMG	1:20.0248r	0:00.3710
5	David Reynolds	The Bottle-O Racing Team	Ford Falcon FG	1:20.1150	0:00.4612
6	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Pepsi Max Crew	Ford Falcon FG	1:20.1953	0:00.5415
7	James Moffat	Norton Hornets	Nissan Altima	1:20.2346	0:00.5808
8	Tim Slade	Supercheap Auto Racing	Holden Commodore VF	1:20.2741	0:00.6203
9	Chaz Mostert	Ford Pepsi Max Crew	Ford Falcon FG	1:20.2784	0:00.6246
10	Scott Pye	Wilson Security Racing	Ford Falcon FG	1:20.2794	0:00.6256
11	Dale Wood	Team Advam/GB	Holden Commodore VF	1:20.3001	0:00.6463
12	David Wall	Wilson Security Racing	Ford Falcon FG	1:20.3005	0:00.6467
13	Jason Bright	Team BOC	Holden Commodore VF	1:20.3252	0:00.6714
14	Will Davison	Erebus Motorsport V8	Mercedes E63 AMG	1:20.3747	0:00.7209
15	Michael Caruso	Norton Hornets	Nissan Altima	1:20.4098	0:00.7560
16	Nick Percat	Walkinshaw Racing	Holden Commodore VF	1:20.4362	0:00.7824
17	James Courtney	Holden Racing Team	Holden Commodore VF	1:20.4373	0:00.7835
18	Rick Kelly	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Nissan Altima	1:20.4721	0:00.8183
19	Todd Kelly	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Nissan Altima	1:20.5199	0:00.8661
20	Garth Tander	Holden Racing Team	Holden Commodore VF	1:20.6182	0:00.9644
21	Jamie Whincup	Red Bull Racing Australia	Holden Commodore VF	1:20.6660	0:01.0122
22	Jack Perkins	Team JELD-WEN	Ford Falcon FG	1:20.7835	0:01.1297
23	Craig Lowndes	Red Bull Racing Australia	Holden Commodore VF	1:20.9272	0:01.2734
24	Robert Dahlgren	Valvoline Racing GRM	Volvo S60	1:21.0127	0:01.3589