McLaughlin takes 10th pole of season in Ipswich

Scott McLaughlin has scored a 10th Armor All Pole of the season in qualifying for Race 20 at the Coates Hire Ipswich SuperSprint.

McLaughlin will square off with Shane van Gisbergen on the front row, while Chaz Mostert was a late improver to third on the grid.

The #17 Shell V-Power Racing FGX Falcon was top of the timing screen after each of the field’s three runs through qualifying.

McLaughlin lowered the benchmark from 1:08.5504s to 1:08.4900s, just short of his 12-month-old practice record at Queensland Raceway, with his final flyer.

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That was just as well given that van Gisbergen would subsequently clock a 1:08.5382s in the #97 Red Bull Holden Racing Team ZB Commodore.

“Everything’s good; we’re very happy,” said McLaughlin, who also qualified on pole for Race 19 the day prior.

“(The) Car was a bit looser today, it was a bit harder, so we need to work on that but I think we’ve got a really good shot today.”

Van Gisbergen improved six positions relative to his Saturday qualifying effort.

“I think we made some progress over night,” he noted.

“Studied hard and did what we could, so hopefully we can take the fight to them.

“Congrats to them, they got another (pole), but we’re in the fight. Hopefully we can have a good race and stay up there.”

Mostert (#55 Supercheap Auto FGX Falcon) was just 0.0592s slower again, bumping Fabian Coulthard (#12 FGX Falcon) in the second DJR Team Penske entry to the outside of Row 2.

David Reynolds’s #9 Penrite ZB Commodore underwent a shock absorber change before the final run and the 2017 Bathurst 1000 winner went on to qualify fifth, putting him alongside Rick Kelly (#15 Castrol Nissan Altima) on the grid.

Jamie Whincup (#1 ZB Commodore) and Craig Lowndes (#888 Autobarn ZB Commodore) make for an all-Triple Eight fourth row, in front of Michael Caruso (#23 Drive Nissan Altima) and Richie Stanaway (#56 Rabble.Club FGX Falcon).

Garth Tander (#33 Wilson Security ZB Commodore) was 11th for a second day in a row, Mark Winterbottom (#5 The Bottle-O FGX Falcon) 16th, and James Courtney (#25 ZB Commodore) the best of the Mobil 1 Boost Mobile entries in 18th.

Nick Percat completed only three laps on his way to 25th in the #8 Brad Jones Racing ZB Commodore, one position ahead of wildcard Kurt Kostecki (#42 Kostecki Brothers Racing VF Commodore).

Race 20 of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship (65 laps) starts at 1405 local time/AEST.

Results: Supercars Race 20 Qualifying

1	17  Shell V-Power Racing Team	Scott McLaughlin	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:08.4900*SS
2	97  Red Bull Holden Racing Team	Shane Van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore ZB	1:08.5382 SS	00.0482
3	55  Supercheap Auto Racing	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:08.5974 SS	00.1074
4	12  Shell V-Power Racing Team	Fabian Coulthard	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:08.6350 SS	00.1450
5	9  Erebus Penrite Racing	David Reynolds	Holden Commodore ZB	1:08.7112 SS	00.2212
6	15  Castrol Racing	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	1:08.7582 SS	00.2682
7	1  Red Bull Holden Racing Team	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore ZB	1:08.8165 SS	00.3265
8	888  Autobarn Lowndes Racing	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore ZB	1:08.8357 SS	00.3457
9	23  Drive Racing	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	1:08.8516 SS	00.3616
10	56  RABBLE.club Racing	Richie Stanaway	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:08.8552 SS	00.3652
11	33  Wilson Security Racing GRM	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore ZB	1:08.9076 SS	00.4176
12	19  Tekno Autosport	Jack Le Brocq	Holden Commodore ZB	1:08.9102 SS	00.4202
13	120  Milwaukee Racing	Will Davison	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:08.9196 SS	00.4296
14	7  Plus Fitness Racing	Andre Heimgartner	Nissan Altima	1:08.9382 SS	00.4482
15	6  Monster Energy Racing	Cameron Waters	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:08.9767 SS	00.4867
16	5  The Bottle-O Racing Team	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:08.9799 SS	00.4899
17	78  Team Harvey Norman	Simona De Silvestro	Nissan Altima	1:08.9931 SS	00.5031
18	25  Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing	James Courtney	Holden Commodore ZB	1:09.0438 SS	00.5538
19	14  Freightliner Racing	Tim Slade	Holden Commodore ZB	1:09.0605 SS	00.5705
20	2  Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore ZB	1:09.0970 SS	00.6070
21	18  Preston Hire Racing	Lee Holdsworth	Holden Commodore ZB	1:09.1551 SS	00.6651
22	34  Wilson Security Racing GRM	James Golding	Holden Commodore ZB	1:09.1685 SS	00.6785
23	99  Erebus Motorsport	Anton de Pasquale	Holden Commodore ZB	1:09.2684 SS	00.7784
24	35  Bigmate Racing	Todd Hazelwood	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:09.4135 SS	00.9235
25	8  Summit Racing	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore ZB	1:09.4185 SS	00.9285
26	42  Arcoplate Racing	Kurt Kostecki	Holden Commodore VF	1:09.5348 SS	01.0448
27	21  Team CoolDrive	Tim Blanchard	Holden Commodore ZB	1:09.5702 SS	01.0802