Heimgartner qualifies on pole for Sydney SuperNight opener

Andre Heimgartner has qualified on pole for this evening’s Sydney SuperNight opener, topping Brodie Kostecki by 0.0817 seconds in this evening’s three-part qualifying.

The Kiwi had been strong across all three runs, going second fastest in Q1 and quickest in Q2 before his pole-setting drive in Q3.

Kostecki will keep him company on the front row while Cam Waters and Will Brown lockout row two. Jack Le Brocq, Bryce Fullwood, James Golding, Cameron Hill, Chaz Mostert and Will Davison round out the top 10.

Shane van Gisbergen was the shock elimination in Q2 after a track limits violation ruined his final lap. He will start 20th, using Triple Eight’s spare chassis after handling errors plagued his regular one over the previous two events.

Matt Payne was knocked out in Q1 and starts 24th.

Both Van Gisbergen and Heimgartner had set strong times early in Q1 and could sit out of the final runs with their banker laps strong enough to see them progress.

Anton de Pasquale could not back up the pace he showed for his race win last time out, becoming the shock elimination from Q1. Nick Percat, Declan Fraser, Payne and Jack Smith, who exceeded track limits on his final run, joined him in the bottom five.

Heimgartner would light up the time sheets with six minutes to run in Q2, his 1:29.280 enough to see him stay in the lane once again as teams completed their final laps. No one would top this time in that session.

Van Gisbergen was the shock elimination from the session; his final lap time was invalidated for exceeding track limits at Turn 5. The defending champion had been strong all day, topping both practices and looking set to go deep into qualifying until his untimely error. Red Bull teammate Broc Feeney was also knocked out in 16th, while van Gisbergen languished in 20th.

The top 10 were made up of three Mustangs and seven Camaros.

Heimgartner immediately returned to work in Q3, his first time being a 1:29.4228 being the only one able to set a banker lap with tyres to spare. The other nine drivers remained in the lane until taking to the track for a final flyer.

All ten would return to the track to do a last lap as darkness descended, yet no one could better his lap as time ran out. Kostecki was closest, falling just 0.004 seconds short, only for Heimgartner to better his time on his run with a 1:29.3447, 0.0817 seconds better than the Erebus driver.

Second-row qualifiers Waters and Brown were a further two-tenths behind.

Tonight’s 200 km, 51-lap race begins at 9.05 pm and will be shown live on Sky Sport 5.

Race 18 Starting Grid

Header Image: Supercars