Matthew Payne has kept his hot streak of pace alive as he took pole for Race 23, with Ryan Wood and Andre Heimgartner not far behind.
The session started with a short red flag after Zach Bates found himself buried in the gravel trap in Turn 1. Once the cars got back out, another red flag was called as Jobe Stewart got rear-ended by Wood, leaving the Erebus driver stranded in the gravel.
This ruined the session for plenty of drivers, as they had mounted new tyres to go through to the second stage of qualifying. However, the red flags meant they had not set a lap, which meant they had to continue on used tyres.
In a chaotic end to the session, all three Kiwis managed to get out to the next stage of qualifying. Wood topped the session ahead of Payne in fifth, and Heimgartner in seventh.
There were some big names who did not make the final session, including Chaz Mostert, Will Brown, and Broc Feeney.
In the second stage, Wood and Heimgartner headed out early, and were able to put in some decent times. Heimgartner sat first for a period of time, with Wood in fourth. Payne then shot to the top, with Cam Waters, Kai Allen, and Thomas Randle all getting close.
On his last lap, Payne was unable to improve his lap but remained first, while Waters and Randle took second and third for Tickford. Wood finished just over a tenth behind Payne for fourth, while Heimgartner finished seventh, two tenths off the top spot.
After the session, Brodie Kostecki received a two spot grid penalty for Race 23, sending him to eighth, promoting Heimgartner to sixth.
