In a very short qualifying session, it was important for drivers to set a good banker lap early in case of late session chaos.
Race 4 Qualifying
After the first flying laps, Wood sat in third as the top Kiwi with a 1.48.332, two and a half tenths off James Golding on provisional pole. With a 1.48.436, Heimgartner sat in eighth and Payne sat in eighteenth with a 1.49.115
Most drivers headed in to get a new set of Dunlops and re-emerged on track with two minutes to go. Payne went to the top at the chequered flag with a 1.47.890, but was pipped by drivers coming through later.
Wood improved to set a 1.48.228, which left him in ninth when the session finished. Heimgartner was the lead Brad Jones Racing GR Supra home in eleventh, finishing seven tenths off pole.
At the end of Race 4 qualifying Payne led the Kiwi trio in fourth, ahead of Wood in ninth and Heimgartner in eleventh. Brodie Kostecki set the fastest lap with a 1.47.611 to get pole position.
Race 5 Qualifying
Drivers headed out for a shorter 8-minute Race 5 qualifying, and while most elected to go straight out, Wood and his team decided to hold off and go slightly after everyone else to get clean air.
Feeney was the first driver to get into the 1.47’s with a 1.47 755, but was quickly eclipsed by Race 4 polesitter Kostecki with a 1.47.470.
Soon after Kostecki set his lap, Payne went to the top with two minutes to go, setting a 1.47.437, the fastest lap of the weekend thus far.
Although off cycle with other drivers, Wood set a 1.47.604 with a minute to go to sit in as the top Supra and third overall at the finish, while Heimgartner struggled to get his car in the window on his first lap and set a 1.48.384, which left him sixteenth.
Payne was able to hold the fastest lap until the session finished, meaning that he would start on pole position for Race 5. Wood finished a tenth and a half behind in third, while Heimgartner finished the session in sixteenth.
Racing action kicks off later tonight (5th March) with Race 4 commencing at 7:00pm NZST.
