Scott McLaughlin netted his sixth Armor All pole position of the season as Shell V-Power Racing locked out the front row in qualifying for Race 13 at the Winton SuperSprint.
The championship leader leapt to the top of the timing screens with a 1:19.11s midway through the 15 minute session.
McLaughlin was unable to improve on his final run leaving him to claim pole by a tenth from team-mate Fabian Coulthard.
The Shell Fords continued their strong form having finished first and second in this morning's Practice 3.
“I stuffed the last corner, but I'm always going to say that,” said McLaughlin.
“We think we can do better, we chase that all the time.
“My engineer in the background is always pushing me.
“(It's) great for everyone at Shell V-Power Racing, a front row lockout, haven't done that for a bit so it's nice to have Fabs up there.
“It's going to be an awesome race to Turn 1.”
Nissan Motorsport were another team to translate their practice form into qualifying as Friday fast man Michael Caruso secured third, edging team-mate Rick Kelly by four hundredths.
Scott Pye (Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing) was the top Holden in fifth after firing in his best time in the final minutes of the session.
He will share the third row with Brad Jones Racing's Tim Slade, ahead of Mark Winterbottom (Tickford Racing) and Will Davison (Milwaukee Racing).
Anton de Pasquale impressed for Erebus Motorsport as the rookie claimed ninth, while team-mate David Reynolds could only manage a time good enough for 17th position.
It was the first time Reynolds has been out-qualified by his younger team-mate this year.
“My story is we're just not fast enough,” said Reynolds.
“If I finished my second lap of that first set of tyres I think I would have been in the top ten.
“We're still a little bit off the pace. That sucked, that sucked balls.”
The top 10 was completed by Nick Percat in the #8 Brad Jones Racing Commodore.
It proved to be a challenging session for Triple Eight as Jamie Whincup ended up 11th with the sister Red Bull Holden Racing Team Commodore driven by Shane van Gisbergen in 14th spot.
Meanwhile, Craig Lowndes will start on the penultimate row of the grid in 24th position.
“Look it is (going to be tough),” said Lowndes.
“For us, we're only like eight tenths off pole but we're almost at the back of the grid.
“It just shows how competitive this category is – we just couldn't get the front to switch on.
“We went up with the rear spring at the start of the runs, looking for obviously to try and kill the rear but the rear of the car is really good.
“We've been working at it all weekend, unfortunately all three cars of ours aren't not as strong as we should be or could be, so we've got to sit down collectively and work out how and why and make a change for the race.”
Supercars will return for Race 13 (40 laps) which is scheduled to start at 1550 local time/AEST.
Results: Race 13 Qualifying
1 | 17 Shell V-Power Racing Team | Scott McLaughlin | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:19.1136*SS | |
2 | 12 Shell V-Power Racing Team | Fabian Coulthard | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:19.2419 SS | 00.1283 |
3 | 23 Drive Racing | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 1:19.3439 SS | 00.2303 |
4 | 15 Castrol Racing | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:19.3875 SS | 00.2739 |
5 | 2 Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:19.3974 SS | 00.2838 |
6 | 14 Freightliner Racing | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:19.4935 SS | 00.3799 |
7 | 5 The Bottle-O Racing Team | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:19.5019 SS | 00.3883 |
8 | 230 Milwaukee Racing | Will Davison | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:19.5036 SS | 00.3900 |
9 | 99 Erebus Thermosphere Racing | Anton de Pasquale | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:19.5171 SS | 00.4035 |
10 | 8 Timken Racing | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:19.5274 SS | 00.4138 |
11 | 1 Red Bull Holden Racing Team | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:19.5415 SS | 00.4279 |
12 | 56 MEGA Racing | Richie Stanaway | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:19.5531 SS | 00.4395 |
13 | 25 Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing | James Courtney | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:19.5609 SS | 00.4473 |
14 | 97 Red Bull Holden Racing Team | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:19.5703 SS | 00.4567 |
15 | 6 Monster Energy Racing | Cameron Waters | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:19.5826 SS | 00.4690 |
16 | 55 Supercheap Auto Racing | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:19.6025 SS | 00.4889 |
17 | 9 Erebus Penrite Racing | David Reynolds | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:19.6173 SS | 00.5037 |
18 | 19 Tekno Autosport | Jack Le Brocq | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:19.6793 SS | 00.5657 |
19 | 21 Team Cooldrive | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:19.6903 SS | 00.5767 |
20 | 33 Wilson Security Racing GRM | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:19.7428 SS | 00.6292 |
21 | 400 Preston Hire Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:19.7606 SS | 00.6470 |
22 | 34 Wilson Security Racing GRM | James Golding | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:19.8178 SS | 00.7042 |
23 | 78 Team Harvey Norman | Simona De Silvestro | Nissan Altima | 1:19.8238 SS | 00.7102 |
24 | 888 Autobarn Lowndes Racing | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:19.9689 SS | 00.8553 |
25 | 7 Plus Fitness Racing | Andre Heimgartner | Nissan Altima | 1:20.0566 SS | 00.9430 |
26 | 35 Bigmate Racing | Todd Hazelwood | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:20.2987 SS | 01.1851 |