Shell V-Power Racing have bounced back from their Newcastle struggles for Anton de Pasquale to top the first of two qualifying sessions to take pole for this evening’s opening Supercars’ race in Melbourne.
The second session was topped by Shane van Gisbergen who will start tomorrow’s race in top spot despite having to sit out second practice after crashing earlier in the day.
Tonight’s race will see de Pasquale start first with Brodie Kostecki in second. Van Gisbergen will start third with only .0716 seconds separating the top three.
Championship leader Chaz Mostert was fourth fastest, one spot ahead of Cam Waters who was followed by Will Brown, Jack Le Broq and Broc Feeney respectively.
Matt Payne produced an astonishing performance on his first outings on the Albert Park circuit to qualify ninth for this evening’s race whilst Nick Percat rounds out the top 10.
Thomas Randle was 11th quickest, one spot better than James Courtney. The second Shell V-Power entry of Will Davison will start 15th.
Andre Heimgartner will start 19th after compromising one of his fast runs by running long at Turn 3 which required an extensive detour over the grass.
Todd Hazlewood suffered a similar fate at around the same time. Mark Winterbottom’s Camaro was one that made light contact with the wall which dropped him down the order after a solid start to qualifying.
Van Gisbergen left it late to set a competitive time in the second qualifying session, topping Brown’s time on his final lap.
Just .0196 seconds is the difference between the duo with Camaros locking out the top five spots. Feeney and Kostecki lock out the second row respectively while Winterbottom recovered to place fifth.
Reynolds is the first Mustang in sixth and is joined by fellow Ford drivers Waters, Davison, Courtney, Mostert, de Pasquale and Randle who round out the top 12.
Payne proved his first time was no fluke by going 15th fastest, slightly quicker than Heimgartner who will start tomorrow’s race alongside him.
For van Gisbergen pole will come as a welcome relief following a crash in first practice. Contact with a wall damaged the defending champion’s car after he lost the rear on the exit of Turn 7 before spinning two and a half times at speed before the rear hit the wall, resulting in the rear wing detaching.
Red Bull’s mechanics were able to get the fix done in time for qualifying but a lack of run time meant the Kiwi was forced to work harder for his qualifying results, making tomorrow’s pole all-the-more impressive.
Tim Slade was not so lucky, his Camaro suffering major damage after colliding heavily with the wall on the exit of Turn 4 in first practice. He had to sit out practice two and also failed to qualify. His team believe they may be able to make the grid for this evening’s race.
Tonight’s 100km sprint begins at 7.45pm New Zealand time.
Header Image: Supercars
