McLaughlin on provisional pole, Whincup misses shootout

Scott McLaughlin has provisionally claimed the Armor All pole position for the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

The Shell V-Power Racing driver was unable to match his practice lap record effort from earlier in the day but still had plenty in the tank to take top spot.

While McLaughlin starred, his title rival Jamie Whincup (Red Bull Holden) missed out on the Top 10 Shootout and will start Sunday’s race from 11th position.

Whincup was unable to extract the pace required to challenge the top order throughout the session.

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McLaughlin jumped to the top of the times sheets early in the 40 minute session before posting a 2:04.74s benchmark after 15 minutes.

The championship leader went on to shave a further five tenths from his time time with a 2:04.22s, which proved enough to claim provisional pole.

Erebus Motorsport’s David Reynolds emerged as his nearest rival with a last gasp effort as he ended up 0.24s shy of McLaughlin.

The time arrived just seconds before a red flag caused by Garry Rogers Motorsport’s James Moffat, who clouted the wall at The Dipper.

Moffat had occupied ninth spot but as a result of the incident his best time was expunged dropping him to 22nd.

It did however promote team-mate Garth Tander into Saturday’s Armor All Top 10 Shootout.

Prodrive’s Chaz Mostert was third as he led a quartet of Fords, including Cameron Waters (Prodrive), Mark Winterbottom (Prodrive) and Fabian Coulthard (Shell V-Power Racing).

Shane van Gisbergen was the only Triple Eight runner in the top 10 in seventh.

Mobil 1 HSV Racing’s James Courtney claimed eighth ahead of Jason Bright, who ensured all four Prodrive Falcons will take part in the shootout.

Craig Lowndes was among a group of high profile entries to miss out on the Top 10 Shootout in 19th position.

The six-time Bathurst 1000 winner was more than a second shy of McLaughlin after an eventful session that included a wild off-track excursion at The Chase.

Last year’s race winner Will Davison will start Sunday’s race from 16th position after his session came to an abrupt halt when he struck the wall.

The field will return to the track on Saturday for Practice 6 at 1010 before the Armor All Top 10 Shootout at 1710.

Armor All Qualifying: Virgin Australia Supercars Championship Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000

1	Shell V-Power Racing Team	Scott McLaughlin	Ford Falcon FG/X	2:04.2254
2	Erebus Penrite Racing	David Reynolds	Holden Commodore VF	2:04.4730	0.2476
3	Supercheap Auto Racing	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG/X	2:04.5304	0.3050
4	Monster Energy Racing	Cameron Waters	Ford Falcon FG/X	2:04.5958	0.3704
5	The Bottle-O Racing Team	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG/X	2:04.7857	0.5603
6	Shell V-Power Racing Team	Fabian Coulthard	Ford Falcon FG/X	2:04.8955	0.6701
7	Red Bull Holden Racing Aust	Shane Van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore VF	2:05.0225	0.7971
8	Mobil 1 HSV Racing	James Courtney	Holden Commodore VF	2:05.0417	0.8163
9	MEGA Racing	Jason Bright	Ford Falcon FG/X	2:05.0804	0.8550
10	Wilson Security Racing GRM	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore VF	2:05.1094	0.8840
11	Red Bull Holden Racing Aust	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore VF	2:05.1686	0.9432
12	Sengled Racing	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	2:05.1996	0.9742
13	Nissan Motorsport	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	2:05.2503	1.0249
14	Brad Jones Racing	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore VF	2:05.2846	1.0592
15	carsales Racing	Todd Kelly	Nissan Altima	2:05.2974	1.0720
16	TEKNO Woodstock Racing	Will Davison	Holden Commodore VF	2:05.3840	1.1586
17	Preston Hire Racing	Lee Holdsworth	Holden Commodore VF	2:05.4379	1.2125
18	Freightliner Racing	Tim Slade	Holden Commodore VF	2:05.5562	1.3308
19	TeamVortex	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore VF	2:05.5625	1.3371
20	Mobil 1 HSV Racing	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore VF	2:05.6182	1.3928
21	Erebus GB Galvanizing Racing	Dale Wood	Holden Commodore VF	2:05.6414	1.4160
22	Wilson Security Racing GRM	James Moffat	Holden Commodore VF	2:05.6430	1.4176
23	Team Harvey Norman	Simona De Silvestro	Nissan Altima	2:05.9423	1.7169
24	Team CoolDrive	Tim Blanchard	Holden Commodore VF	2:05.9703	1.7449
25	Plus Fitness Racing	Aaren Russell	Holden Commodore VF	2:06.4233	2.1979
26	Repair Management Aust Racing	Alex Rullo	Holden Commodore VF	2:07.4801	3.2547

Top 10 provisional; Shootout tomorrow