Matthew Payne has sealed pole position for both of today’s two Toyota Racing Series races at Manfeild.
Payne was dominant in the 15-minute session, posting a 1.03.176 midway through his run to claim his third consecutive pole position of the season.
Peter Vodanovich managed to get within two-tenths of Payne, having come out trumps in a hotly contested duel with championship protagonist Kaleb Ngatoa.
The two were split by one-tenth, with Vodanovich’s 11th and final flying lap the decider to clinch a front-row start for the day’s feature race.
The unorthodox qualifying format means the first race of the day had its grid determined by each driver’s second-fastest time.
With Payne leading from the front in race one, this time it will be Ngatoa starting alongside him on the front row.
USF2000-bound Billy Frazer will start the feature race from fourth, having briefly running third before being shuffled behind Ngatoa.
Conrad Clark was improving on his benchmark lap time each lap, eventually setting his fastest time on his final flying lap to cement fifth. He and Frazer will swap places for the start of race one.
Chris Vlok found over a second in time from Friday practice, but will round out the six-car field in both of today’s races.
The first affair of the day – a 22 lapper – will kick off from 12.55 pm and will be live on Spark Sport.
TRS Race One grid
| Pos | Driver | Gap |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matthew Payne | 1m03.202s |
| 2 | Kaleb Ngatoa | +0.317s |
| 3 | Peter Vodanovich | +0.321s |
| 4 | Conrad Clark | +0.640s |
| 5 | Billy Frazer | +0.664s |
| 6 | Chris Vlok | +1.228s |
TRS Race Two grid (feature race)
| Pos | Driver | Gap |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matthew Payne | 1m03.176s |
| 2 | Peter Vodanovich | +0.231s |
| 3 | Kaleb Ngatoa | +0.327s |
| 4 | Billy Frazer | +0.423s |
| 5 | Conrad Clark | +0.535s |
| 6 | Chris Vlok | +1.163s |
