Fresh off the back of a third place in Saturday’s race, De Pasquale made a perfect start to Sunday by scoring provisional pole.
He left his run late in the 15-minute session, stopping the clock at 1m27.092s after the flag to ensure he’ll run last in the Top 10 Shootout.
“We had a bit of swing since Friday,” said the Shell Ford driver.
“I wanted some different things from the car. I think it suited the track conditions, the track is a bit slower and greasy.
“We’ll see what the Shootout brings, it’s super hard to get the tyre on on Lap 1, so that’s going to be the biggest trick.”
Chaz Mostert was second fastest in qualifying, two-tenths behind De Pasquale, while Will Brown was another two-thousandths of a second back in third.
The two best-placed Kiwis were Matt Payne and Ryan Wood in fourth and fifth, while Broc Feeney put in a better showing than yesterday’s qualifying, making the Shootout with the sixth fastest time.
Tim Slade and Brodie Kostecki were next followed by Jack Le Brocq and Thomas Randle.
Big names to miss the Shootout included Saturday race winner Andre Heimgartner, who will start 11th today, while yesterday’s polesitter Cam Waters will start from 12th.
David Reynolds and Richie Stanaway were just 14th and 15th, while Will Davison, who finished second in the race yesterday, could only manage 18th, eight-tenths slower than his DJR teammate.
The Top 10 Shootout takes place at 12:25pm local time.
Results: Qualifying for Race 8, ITM Taupo Super400
Pos | Num | Team/Sponsor | Driver | Car | Fastest lap | Split |
1 | 11 | Shell V-Power Racing Team | Anton De Pasquale | Ford Mustang GT | 1:27.0928 | |
2 | 25 | Mobil 1 Optus Racing | Chaz Mostert | Ford Mustang GT | 1:27.1200 | 0:00.0272 |
3 | 87 | Red Bull Ampol Racing | William Brown | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 1:27.1220 | 0:00.0292 |
4 | 19 | Penrite Racing | Matthew Payne | Ford Mustang GT | 1:27.1458 | 0:00.0530 |
5 | 2 | Mobil 1 Truck Assist Racing | Ryan Wood | Ford Mustang GT | 1:27.2550 | 0:00.1622 |
6 | 88 | Red Bull Ampol Racing | Broc Feeney | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 1:27.2695 | 0:00.1767 |
7 | 23 | PremiAir Nulon Racing | Tim Slade | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 1:27.3997 | 0:00.3069 |
8 | 1 | Erebus Motorsport | Brodie Kostecki | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 1:27.4116 | 0:00.3188 |
9 | 9 | Erebus Motorsport | Jack Le Brocq | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 1:27.4145 | 0:00.3217 |
10 | 55 | Monster Castrol Racing | Thomas Randle | Ford Mustang GT | 1:27.4299 | 0:00.3371 |
11 | 8 | R&J Batteries Racing | Andre Heimgartner | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 1:27.4665 | 0:00.3737 |
12 | 6 | Monster Castrol Racing | Cameron Waters | Ford Mustang GT | 1:27.5381 | 0:00.4453 |
13 | 20 | Tradie Racing | David Reynolds | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 1:27.5636 | 0:00.4708 |
14 | 26 | Penrite Racing | Richie Stanaway | Ford Mustang GT | 1:27.6139 | 0:00.5211 |
15 | 18 | DEWALT Racing | Mark Winterbottom | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 1:27.7886 | 0:00.6958 |
16 | 31 | PremiAir Nulon Racing | James Golding | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 1:27.8701 | 0:00.7773 |
17 | 4 | Superglass Racing | Cameron Hill | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 1:27.9852 | 0:00.8924 |
18 | 17 | Shell V-Power Racing Team | Will Davison | Ford Mustang GT | 1:27.9886 | 0:00.8958 |
19 | 96 | Wendy’s Racing | Macauley Jones | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 1:27.9896 | 0:00.8968 |
20 | 7 | Snowy River Racing | James Courtney | Ford Mustang GT | 1:27.9984 | 0:00.9056 |
21 | 12 | SCT Motorsport | Jaxon Evans | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 1:28.0077 | 0:00.9149 |
22 | 14 | Middy’s Racing | Bryce Fullwood | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 1:28.0181 | 0:00.9253 |
23 | 3 | CoolDrive Racing | Aaron Love | Ford Mustang GT | 1:28.3362 | 0:01.2434 |
24 | 10 | Bendix Racing | Nick Percat | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 1:28.3968 | 0:01.3040 |