Audi factory driver Marco Bonanomi showed his class as he scored pole position for Jemec Pem Racing on his Australian GT Championship debut at Barbagallo Raceway.
The Italian star quickly adapted to the Western Australian circuit having topped practice prior to his run in the first of two 20 minute qualifying sessions.
Racing alongside Geoff Emery, who took part in second session, the pair claimed the third consecutive pole for the entry this season.
Heavy rain ahead of Qualifying 2 ultimately saw the times posted in the earlier session set the grid for Satruday’s opening race.
The Audi of Greg Taylor and Barton Mawer emerged as Bonanomi’s nearest rival with the latter posting a time 0.8s adrift of the works Audi driver.
Justin McMillan and Glen Wood’s Lamborghini was third fastest ahead of the McLaren 650S of Klark Quinn and the Tekno Autosports McLaren 650S entry of Jonathon Webb and Matt Kingsley.
The Scott Taylor Motorsport Mercedes AMG GT3 will start from sixth courtesy of Craig Baird’s effort in opening qualifying.
Championship leaders James Koudnouris and Marcus Marshall were seventh just in front of the Nathan Antunes/Elliot Barbour Tekno Autosports McLaren.
Reigning V8 Utes Racing Series champion Ryal Harris piloted the Erebus Motorsport SLS GT3 to ninth on his championship debut, as Dean Canto completed the top 10 in the Taplin Real Estate Lamborghini.
Canto was the only driver to improve in the treacherous conditions which greeted drivers for Qualifying 2.
The Walkinshaw Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R will start from 11th on its Australian GT Championship debut.
Aaron Tebb, who will join John Martin for the round, posted the time in Qualifying 1.
The first of two 60 minute races this weekend is scheduled to begin on Saturday at 1215 local time.
Meanwhile, in the Historic Touring Cars support category, the Ford Mustang of Darryl Hansen claimed pole position with a 0.2s margin Bill Meeke’s Ford Falcon.
The second row of the grid will be shared by John Bondi (Holden Monaro) and Will Colton (Ford Falcon XY).
Result: Australian GT Championship Qualifying, Perth
| 1 | JAMEC PEM Racing | M.Bonanomi/G.Emery | Audi R8 LMS | 0:57.8854* | |
| 2 | Adina Apartment Hotels | G.Taylor/B.Mawer | Audi R8 LMS | 0:58.7081 | 00.8227 |
| 3 | Interlloy M Motorsport | J.McMillan/G.Wood | Lamborghini R-EX | 0:59.2190 | 01.3336 |
| 4 | Darrell Lea | Klark Quinn (QLD) | McLaren 650S GT3 | 0:59.2290 | 01.3436 |
| 5 | McLaren Melbourne | J.Webb/M.Kingsley | McLaren 650S GT3 | 0:59.4892 | 01.6038 |
| 6 | Scott Taylor Motorsport | S.Taylor/C.Baird | Mercedes Benz AMG GT | 0:59.5806 | 01.6952 |
| 7 | Supabarn Supermarkets | J.Koundouris/M.Marshall | Audi R8 LMS | 0:59.6089 | 01.7235 |
| 8 | Beechwood / SLR / Buildmap | N.Antunes/E.Barbour | McLaren 650S GT3 | 0:59.8090 | 01.9236 |
| 9 | Exotic Track Days | R.Harris/S.Hookey | Mercedes AMG GT3 SLS | 1:00.3521 | 02.4667 |
| 10 | Taplin Real Estate | A.Taplin/D.Canto | Lamborghini Gallardo | 1:00.3945 | 02.5091 |
| 11 | Walkinshaw GT3 | J.Martin/A.Tebb | Porsche 911 GT3-R | 1:00.7799 | 02.8945 |
| 12 | SR Motorsport | S.Richards/M.Twigg | BMW M6 GT3 | 1:00.9243 | 03.0389 |
| 13 | JBS Australia | Roger Lago (QLD) | Lamborghini R-EX | 1:00.9678 | 03.0824 |
| 14 | DPO | Nathan Morcom | McLaren 650S GT3 | 1:00.9893 | 03.1039 |
| 15 | JAMEC PEM Racing | Steve McLaughlan (VIC) | Audi R8 LMS | 1:00.9957 | 03.1103 |
| 16 | Modena Engineering | Ricky Capo (VIC) | BMW Z4 GT3 | 1:01.0731 | 03.1877 |
| 17 | Objective Racing | Tony Walls (QLD) | McLaren 650S GT3 | 1:01.7367 | 03.8513 |
| 18 | Darrell Lea | Tony Quinn (QLD) | Aston Martin Vantage | 1:02.0190 | 04.1336 |
| 19 | Performance West | Peter Rullo (WA) | Lamborghini Gallardo | 1:02.0554 | 04.1700 |
| 20 | Bondi Wholefoods | Ash Samadi (VIC) | Mercedes Benz AMG SL | 1:03.9908 | 06.1054 |
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