New Zealander Ryan Wood will start on the front row of this evening’s Dunlop Series opener in Perth, having been pipped by polesitter Zak Best by just .01 of a second as time ran down.
It continues a run of solid qualifying form for Wood, who has emerged as a true contender in this year’s championship by showing such pace.
Matthew McCutcheon also overcame mechanical gremlins with his Commodore yesterday to qualify fourth fastest of the Super3 competitors out of grid 20 for this evening’s race.
An eight-strong Super3 field got the session off to a flier, with Cameron McLeod immediately setting the benchmark with a 56.2560. McCutcheon had looked to put a decent lap but immediately dove into the lane to return out with 5 minutes to run.
The lack of track time yesterday didn’t hurt the Kiwi on his first lap in anger, a 56.5947 with two purple sectors putting him into second of the Super3 competitors, only behind McLeod.
Jobe Stewart and Mason Kelly went on to better this as the clock wound down, leaving McCutcheon fourth as the clock ran down. McLeod was able to better his time for a convincing pole, with Stewart and Kelly maintaining their positions.
It was Kai Allen who immediately got to work once Super2 hit the track, the youngster’s 55.8646 topping the pack only to be topped by Cooper Murray the next time around.
Wood had sat fourth overall following his first run, slotting in behind Super3 polesitter McLeod before pitting for a new set of super softs.
The Kiwi returned to the track with 4 minutes remaining, running a couple of laps to better his time to move to fourth, only for Brad Vaughan to move forward for provisional pole.
Several other competitors also bettered Wood’s time, only for Wood to respond with a 55.5621 to sit in provisional pole with 30 seconds left on the clock.
Best went on to better that to claim pole, pipping Wood’s time by just .01 of a second. Super3 polesitter McLeod starts in grid 14, with Stewart 17th, Mason Kelly 19th and McCutcheon 20th.
Today’s Dunlop Series race is 40 minutes long, begins at 6 pm and will be shown live on Sky Sport 5.
Dunlop Series Perth SuperSprint Race 1 Starting Grid
| Grid | Driver | Class |
| Pole | Best | 2 |
| 2nd | Wood | 2 |
| 3rd | Vaughan | 2 |
| 4th | Dalton | 2 |
| 5th | Murray | 2 |
| 6th | Love | 2 |
| 7th | Allen | 2 |
| 8th | Chada | 2 |
| 9th | Bates | 2 |
| 10th | Morse | 2 |
| 11th | Hanson | 2 |
| 12th | Crick | 2 |
| 13th | Seton | 2 |
| 14th | McLeod | 3 |
| 15th | Perkins | 2 |
| 16th | Sinni | 2 |
| 17th | Stewart | 3 |
| 18th | Morris | 2 |
| 19th | Kelly | 3 |
| 20th | McCutcheon | 3 |
| 21st | Morrow | 2 |
| 22nd | Johnson | 3 |
| 23rd | Walker | 2 |
| 24th | Gilroy | 3 |
| 25th | Smerdon | 3 |
| 26th | Gomersall | 3 |
| 27th | Masterton | 2 |
Header Image: Ryan Wood (Walkinshaw Andretti United)
