James Courtney has scored the Armor All Pole Award for Race 3 at the Clipsal 500 in a Top 10 Shootout that saw the top six cars covered by less than a tenth of a second.

The Holden Racing Team driver was the eighth on track, knocking Fabian Coulthard from the top spot with a 1:20.54s.

Penultimate man out James Moffat went quicker to the second sector before slotting into fifth, while qualifying pace-setter Shane van Gisbergen managed only sixth.

Van Gisbergen’s lap was just 0.096s slower than Courtney in an incredibly tight session.

Jamie Whincup and Scott McLaughlin will share the second row after briefly commanding the top of the time sheets following their laps.

Seventh through 10th on the grid will be filled by Tim Slade, Marcos Ambrose, Garth Tander and Jason Bright.

Ambrose’s effort included surviving a wild moment in the Senna Chicane, only to scrape the Turn 4 exit wall while on his cool down lap.

“I wasn’t paying any attention to what I was doing, I was in the wrong gear and just got caught out in the marbles left by the Touring Car Masters,” explained Ambrose afterward.

The 250km Race 3 of the V8 Supercars Championship will get underway at 1525 local time.

UPDATE: Tander has been moved up to seventh in the order after a timing issue was corrected.

VIDEO: Top 10 Shootout highlights

Result: V8 Supercars Top 10 Shootout, Clipsal 500 Adelaide

1

Holden Racing Team

James Courtney

Holden Commodore VF

01:20.54

2

Freightliner Racing

Fabian Coulthard

Holden Commodore VF

01:20.58

00:00.04

3

Red Bull Racing Australia

Jamie Whincup

Holden Commodore VF

01:20.60

00:00.06

4

Wilson Security Racing GRM

Scott McLaughlin

Volvo S60

01:20.61

00:00.07

5

Nissan Mororsport

James Moffat

Nissan Altima

01:20.61

00:00.07

6

Team TEKNO Darrell Lea

Shane Van Gisbergen

Holden Commodore VF

01:20.64

00:00.10

7

Supercheap Auto Racing

Tim Slade

Holden Commodore VF

01:21.15

00:00.61

8

DJR Team Penske

Marcos Ambrose

Ford Falcon FG/X

01:21.17

00:00.63

9

Holden Racing Team

Garth Tander

Holden Commodore VF

01:21.20

00:00.66

10

Team BOC

Jason Bright

Holden Commodore VF

01:21.23

00:00.69