Tim Slade was left to rue the clutch failure that denied the Supercheap Auto Holden driver the chance to turn a front-row start into a maiden V8 Supercars race victory.
After identifying the problem on the warm-up lap, Slade quickly notified officials once on the grid.
The start was aborted, with Slade subsequently taking the green light from pitlane.
“I did the warm up lap and then rolling down to the grid and warming up the tyres with the clutch, that's when it went,” Slade told Speedcafe.com.
“I got the car off the line by starting it in first gear on the starter motor and then that's what I did to get it going from pitlane and in all the pit stops as well.
“Because I didn't have a clutch I had to left-foot brake in the race as well. I'm not a left-foot braker and can't say I really enjoy doing it but I got it done.”
The Adelaide native said he was confident of a strong race after the qualifying performance.
“It's unfortunate because I think our car was looking pretty speedy in that race with all things considered,” he said.
“I was happy with qualifying and we had an average day yesterday, but had a really speedy car in that second race (Race 12), so I was half confident we could carry that over today and be competitive.
“It probably rubs salt into the wounds a little bit when you have a good car but you can't do anything with it.”
Slade joined Walkinshaw Racing this year after completing three years running under James Rosenberg's license at the newly formed Stone Brothers Racing/Erebus Motorsport.
With his Holden Commodore VF sitting a competitive 12th in the championship, today's qualifying result was further encouragement during his transition period.
“Probably the biggest thing I think, which probably ranks about learning, is how to get the most out of a car that is different to what you are used to driving,” he said of his team switch.
“I guess that's why typically this year we have been stronger on Sundays, because we learn about the car through friday and Saturday and then we sort of put into action what we learn over those two days on Sunday.
“I don't expect things to happen straight away because these things take time, but it's all going well so far.”
The next round of the 2014 V8 Supercar Championship will begin on May 16 at Perth's Barbagallo Raceway.