Series leader Tom Alexander will start from Armor All Pole Position for the opening ECB SuperUtes race of the weekend following a shortened qualifying session in Newcastle.
The New Zealander went fastest late in the session, which ended under red flag when Ben Falk put his Mazda BT-50 on its side after running wide at Parnell Place.
Having lost the back end, Falk ran wide on exit of the 90-degree left hander, tagging the wall on driver’s right before the front wheel climbed the tyre belt and tipped the Mazda onto its side.
With little more than a minute left to run, the session did not restart, confirming Alexander on pole from Ryal Harris (Mazda BT-50) and Cameron Crick (Mitsubishi Triton).
Alexander (Isuzu D-Max) moved to the top of the timesheets midway through the session, Crick having again been quick in the opening laps to lay down a time of 1:29.4441s.
He then improved on his following two laps, first to 1:29.0063s before shaving four thousandths next time through.
That left him fastest ahead of Ryan Harris with a 0.2995s margin, with Ben Walsh (Toyota Hilux) in provisional third almost seven tenths down on Crick’s best.
Alexander then moved the game on, recording a 1:28.8514s only for Harris to respond with a 1:28.8105s.
It left the pair split by less than half a tenth before Alexander banked first a 1:28.5090s and then a 1:28.4880s to move 0.3225s clear at the top of the timesheet.
Crick moved to third fastest, 0.5142s off Alexander’s pace, with Elliot Barbour fourth on a 1:29.1746s.
The opening SuperUtes race of the weekend takes place tomorrow at 1240 local time/AEDT, the category’s only appearance on Saturday’s program.
Results: Armor All Qualifying
| Pos | Num | Team/Sponsor | Driver | Car | Fastest lap | Split |
| 1 | 22 | Caltex Delo Racing | Tom Alexander | Isuzu D-MAX | 1:28.4880 | |
| 2 | 1 | EFS 4×4 Racing | Ryal Harris | Mazda BT50 | 1:28.8105 | 0:00.3225 |
| 3 | 7 | Total Tools Team Triton Racing | Cameron Crick | Mitsubishi Triton | 1:29.0022 | 0:00.5142 |
| 4 | 87 | Team Triton Racing | Elliot Barbour | Mitsubishi Triton | 1:29.1746 | 0:00.6866 |
| 5 | 64 | Western Sydney Motorsport | Craig Woods | Toyota Hilux | 1:29.2819 | 0:00.7939 |
| 6 | 8 | Fat Freddys | Ben Walsh | Toyota Hilux | 1:29.3345 | 0:00.8465 |
| 7 | 17 | Tankworld | Benjamin Falk | Mazda BT50 | 1:30.0663 | 0:01.5783 |
| 8 | 68 | Phoenix Contract | Layton Barker | Toyota Hilux | 1:31.2438 | 0:02.7558 |
| 9 | 49 | Allgate Auto Doors | Christopher Formosa | Ford Ranger | 1:31.7168 | 0:03.2288 |
| 10 | 72 | Western Sydney Motorsport | Craig Thompson | Toyota Hilux | 1:32.4139 | 0:03.9259 |
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