Greg Ritter will start his maiden Touring Car Masters race from pole position after officials elected to void the results of a shortened qualifying session.
The majority of drivers had only completed one flying lap before Rusty French crashed heavily on the entry to Turn 5.
Resulting repairs required to the tyre barriers saw no further action take place, leaving early pace-setter Steven Johnson on top.
A statement from the event secretary has subsequently confirmed that the grid will now be set by the combined practice times.
“Due to delays resulting from accident damage to Tyre Walls, the Touring Car Masters Qualifying has been declared and Practice 1 & 2 results will be combined to provide a grid for Touring Car Masters Race 1,” it read.
Fifth fastest in the shortened qualifying, Ritter had impressively topped both practice sessions in his first drive of Tony Hunter’s Chevrolet Monza.
John Bowe will start second ahead of Tony Karanfilovski, Eddie Abelnica and Johnson.
Bowe’s title rival Jim Richards is arguably the biggest beneficiary of the change, moving from 17th to seventh.