McLaughlin fastest in Race 2 qualifying

Scott McLaughlin ended qualifying fastest to book himself a place in the Armor All Top 10 Shootout for Race 2 of the Adelaide 500.

The DJR Team Penske driver made the most of his final flying lap to move to the top of the timesheets, his 1:19.6900s the fastest lap of the weekend so far.

Race 1 winner Shane van Gisbergen was second fastest, just over a tenth off McLaughlin’s pace, with team-mate Jamie Whincup just 0.02s further back.

“We worked very hard overnight for the car, Ludo has tuned it up a beauty so it was a lot better,” said McLaughlin.

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“We know we’ve got our work cut out in the shootout – these guys are very good at their shootout laps and we’ll have to give it out all.”

Fabian Coulthard missed the top 10 for the second race in succession, despite setting the pace as the session began.

A succession of quick times moved the goalpost from Coulthard’s 1:21.3861s to a 1:20.0358s courtesy of Michael Caruso.

It was tight at the top however, with six cars covered by less than a tenth of a second before the field bolted on another set of rubber ready for a final flying lap.

With four mintues left in the session, the Red Bull’s of Shane van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup both sat outside of the top ten.

Van Gisbergen shot to the top of the time sheets, quickly followed by Whincup as the times dipped into the 1:19s bracket.

Mostert set a best middle sector of the session but could only manage third best, and that quickly became fourth when Scott McLaughlin set a 1:19.6900s.

Aborting his final lap, James Courtney ended his session early by pulling into the lane while in 12th, ensuring he’d miss the Top 10 Shootout after struggling with a wheel out of balance.

“We damaged a wheel on Friday when we touched the wall through (Turn) 8, just a little kiss, it buckled the wheel slightly and somehow stayed in circulation,” Courtney explained.

“It was mad vibration, it creates a lot of knock off so then the pedals are really inconsistent.

“The car was really quick in the race yesterday and really consistent so we’ll put that race set-up back in and see how we go this arvo.”

Having qualified inside the Top 10 for Race 1, Will Davison missed out on a repeat Shootout appearance as he qualified 21st, while Coulthard’s hopes were dashed when Andre Heimgartner went seventh fastest as the chequered flag flew.

Running out of sequence, Garth Tander was among the last to post a final flying lap, his 1:19.9113s effort moving the veteran to fourth fastest.

Tim Blanchard returned to the circuit after a long night of repairs from the Brad Jones Racing team, which saw the A and B pillars replaced on the Cooldrive Commodore, though ended the session 26th.

An aggressive lap from Richie Stanaway saw him climb over the back of the kerb at Turn 7 before brushing the wall one corner further around, the Tickford Racing driver managed the 18th best lap in the session.

The top 10 qualifiers now move into the Armor All Top 10 Shootout at 1140 ahead of Race 2, which begins at 1520 local time (1550 AEDT).

Results: Armor All Qualifying for Race 2

Pos	Num	Team/Sponsor	Driver	Car	Fastest lap	Split
1	17	Shell V-Power Racing Team	Scott McLaughlin	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:19.6900
2	97	Red Bull Holden Racing Team	Shane van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore ZB	1:19.8056	0:00.1156
3	1	Red Bull Holden Racing Team	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore ZB	1:19.8269	0:00.1369
4	33	Wilson Security Racing GRM	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore ZB	1:19.9113	0:00.2213
5	55	Supercheap Auto Racing	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:19.9187	0:00.2287
6	9	Erebus Penrite Racing	David Reynolds	Holden Commodore ZB	1:19.9544	0:00.2644
7	5	The Bottle-O Racing Team	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:19.9736	0:00.2836
8	7	Nissan Motorsport	Andre Heimgartner	Nissan Altima	1:19.9926	0:00.3026
9	23	Nissan Motorsport	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	1:20.0102	0:00.3202
10	6	Monster Energy Racing	Cameron Waters	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:20.0477	0:00.3577
11	14	Freightliner Racing	Tim Slade	Holden Commodore ZB	1:20.0906	0:00.4006
12	12	Shell V-Power Racing Team	Fabian Coulthard	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:20.1217	0:00.4317
13	18	Preston Hire Racing	Lee Holdsworth	Holden Commodore ZB	1:20.1579	0:00.4679
14	25	Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing	James Courtney	Holden Commodore ZB	1:20.1766	0:00.4866
15	2	Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore ZB	1:20.1814	0:00.4914
16	15	Nissan Motorsport	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	1:20.2008	0:00.5108
17	888	Autobarn Lowndes Racing	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore ZB	1:20.2239	0:00.5339
18	56	Tickford Racing	Richie Stanaway	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:20.2999	0:00.6099
19	99	Erebus Racing	Anton De Pasquale	Holden Commodore ZB	1:20.4078	0:00.7178
20	8	Blackwoods Racing	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore ZB	1:20.4236	0:00.7336
21	230	Milwaukee Racing	Will Davison	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:20.4310	0:00.7410
22	19	Tekno Autosports	Jack Le Brocq	Holden Commodore ZB	1:20.4388	0:00.7488
23	34	Wilson Security Racing GRM	James Golding	Holden Commodore ZB	1:20.5315	0:00.8415
24	35	Bigmate Racing	Todd Hazelwood	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:20.7843	0:01.0943
25	78	Team Harvey Norman	Simona de Silvestro	Nissan Altima	1:21.0224	0:01.3324
26	21	CoolDrive Racing	Tim Blanchard	Holden Commodore ZB	1:21.0465	0:01.3565

Top 10 provisional; Shootout later today