JAMIE WHINCUP TAKES PROVISIONAL POLE

Jamie Whincup on provisional pole for Bathurst – Photo: InSyde Media

Jamie Whincup will be the last car on track in tomorrow’s Top 10 Shootout after taking provisional pole in Friday’s qualifying session.

Hot off the back of winning the Sandown 500, Whincup went to the top of the timesheets late in the session by posting a 2:04.1093 lap of Mount Panorama, grabbing the pole by just under 0.2s.

Scott McLaughlin ended the session third fastest – Photo: InSyde Media

The seven-time series champion’s fastest lap came on his final attempt, just pipping his old foe Scott McLaughlin to the provisional pole as last year’s winner David Reynolds slotted in between the pair.

At the start of the session, it looked like the 26 competitors would have to battle the elements rather than each other as the rain returned as the pit lane exit opened.

Luckily the weather held off and the session got going with fast times early on, only getting faster as the 40-minute session started to draw to a close.

A late red flag within the final 10 minutes halted proceedings after Jack Le Brocq ran wide at Hell Corner, smacking the concrete barrier and stopping just up the road.

A frantic dash in the final minutes saw the order chop and change with Whincup emerging on top, his time only 0.1555 faster than Reynolds in the Erebus and 0.1769 clear of last year’s pole-sitter McLaughlin.

Shane Van Gisbergen discovering the limits in qualifying – Photo: InSyde Media

Whincup’s Triple Eight team-mate Shane van Gisbergen went fourth fastest in the session, just getting ahead of James Courtney who led at the back end of qualifying until a scrappy final sector saw him fail to capitalise on a strong start to the lap.

In his last full-time Bathurst appearance, Craig Lowndes was sixth in qualifying, only 0.01s ahead of Tickford’s Cam Waters, the only driver present from the Ford squad.

Nick Percat, Anton de Pasquale and Garth Tander squeezed into the top ten while Chaz Mostert only just missed out, starting from 11th for Sunday’s Great Race.

Joining the five Fords out of the ten, no Nissans got through to the shootout despite showing good pace in the wet practice sessions earlier in the day.

Saturday’s 60-minute practice session will begin at 10am local time and the grid-setting top ten shootout will start at 5:10pm

SuperCheap Auto Bathurst 1000 Qualifying Result

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