Jason Bargwanna has claimed a surprise pole position for today’s first part of Race 20 of the V8 Supercar Championship Series at Surfers Paradise.
The likeable 37-year-old lapped the 4.4km track in 1m49.9887s – the only person in the session to go under the 1m50s mark.
The pole position comes at an interesting time for the Sprint Gas Racing team, with major team changes set to alter its current make up. Tony D’Alberto Racing will soon put pen to paper on one of the Tasman Motorsport-owned Racing Entitlement Contracts (REC), leaving the team with just one REC.
D’Alberto will use the REC to compete next year – likely to run Bargwanna’s current #3 on his doors – while the Rod Nash Racing REC that D’Alberto currently competes under will move to Ford Performance Racing to field a third car with The Bottle-O sponsorship.
But next year’s championship will seem miles away now while the Sprint Gas-sponsored team celebrates its first pole position. Bargwanna’s team-mate Greg Murphy also qualified 10th.
Bargwanna is no stranger to good results on the streets of Surfers Paradise having won the first V8 Supercar Championship Series ‘points’ race back in 2002.
Second on the grid for Race 20, Part A is TeamVodafone’s Craig Lowndes, from Jack Daniel’s Racing Rick Kelly, Jamie Whincup and Will Davison.
Weekend fast man Mark Winterbottom will start from sixth, while yesterday’s race winner Garth Tander could only manage 12th in his Toll Holden Racing Team Commodore.
Race 20, Part B starts at 11.05am.
