The battle for pole position for Race 17 at Hidden Valley delivered plenty of drama as looming rain clouds forced drivers to push hard from the opening moments of qualifying.
With light rain forecast to arrive within minutes, the entire field wasted little time heading onto the circuit in a bid to bank a competitive lap before conditions deteriorated.
Early pace came from Broc Feeney before Cam Waters, who had topped the sole practice session earlier in the day, moved to the head of the timesheets. However, it was Ryan Wood who soon stole the spotlight, putting his Walkinshaw TWG Racing Toyota Supra at the top of the order.
Just over halfway through the opening qualifying session, Wood led the field with a 1:06.239s lap. Brodie Kostecki sat second ahead of Anton De Pasquale, Waters and fellow Kiwi Matt Payne. Andre Heimgartner was sixth, giving New Zealand drivers three spots inside the top six. Just 0.15 seconds separated the top five drivers, while only three-tenths covered the top 10.
After a tyre change, the field returned for a final attack on the stopwatch as they chased a place in Q2.
Kostecki briefly moved to the top with a 1:06.079s before Jayden Ojeda jumped into second position. Payne then delivered a strong response on his final lap, posting a 1:06.020s to finish Q1 fastest.
Wood remained comfortably inside the top five, improving his time slightly to a 1:06.206s. Despite the threatening weather, the rain stayed away long enough for the drivers to complete the session on dry tyres.
Payne led the way into Q2 ahead of Kostecki, Ojeda, Waters and Wood. Kai Allen, De Pasquale, Will Brown, Heimgartner and David Reynolds rounded out the top 10, ensuring all three Kiwi drivers advanced to the pole shootout.
Those eliminated in Q1 and set to start Race 17 from 11th through 24th were Chaz Mostert, Jack Le Brocq, Broc Feeney, Macauley Jones, Cameron Hill, Declan Fraser, Thomas Randle, Cooper Murray, Rylan Gray, Zach Bates, Aaron Cameron, James Golding, Jobe Stewart and Jackson Walls.
Light rain began to fall as Q2 got underway, adding another layer of uncertainty to the battle for pole.
Allen was the early pace-setter with a 1:06.364s lap, ahead of Waters, Wood, Payne, De Pasquale, Heimgartner, Kostecki, Brown and Reynolds. Ojeda had yet to record a time after remaining in the pits during the opening minutes.
With less than three minutes remaining, the drivers bolted on fresh tyres and headed back onto the circuit for two final flying laps.
Wood showed impressive speed, setting the fastest first sector, while Payne responded by lighting up the timing screens in sector two. Payne moved to the top of the leaderboard with a 1:06.100s lap, while Wood slotted into second with a 1:06.266s effort. Brown briefly climbed to third before Waters improved to second, pushing Wood back to third.
The final moments belonged to Kostecki, who produced a stunning 1:06.038s lap to snatch pole position. De Pasquale also found speed late, recording a 1:06.063s to secure a front-row start alongside the Erebus driver.
Kostecki will start Race 17 from pole position ahead of De Pasquale, with Payne leading the Kiwi contingent from third on the grid. Waters qualified fourth, while Ojeda and Wood will share the third row.
Allen secured seventh ahead of Reynolds, Brown and Heimgartner, completing the top 10 for the opening race of the Darwin Triple Crown weekend which is scheduled for later tonight at 7:30pm NZST.
Header Image: Grove Racing
