De Pasquale, van Gisbergen share AGP Supercars poles

Anton De Pasquale and a resurgent Shane van Gisbergen have taken the pole positions for Races 3 and 4 of the Repco Supercars Championship at Albert Park, respectively.

Dick Johnson Racing’s De Pasquale (#11 Shell V-Power Mustang) edged Erebus Motorsport’s Brodie Kostecki (#99 Coca-Cola Camaro) by 0.0401s with a 1:49.3167s in the first of the afternoon’s two, 15-minute sessions at the Beaurepaires Melbourne SuperSprint.

Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Shane van Gisbergen returned to the track after his Practice 1 crash to snare third on the grid for Race 3 in a #97 Red Bull Ampol Camaro which was hurriedly repaired just in time for that hit-out.

In an even more remarkable effort, he snatched pole position for Race 4 with the chequered flag out on a qualifying session run on the super soft tyre, despite missing the practice hit-out when everyone else got mileage on that compound.

Both of the first two rows for tomorrow’s race will be Triple Eight on the inside and Erebus on the outside, with Will Brown (#9 Coca-Cola Camaro) qualifying second, Broc Feeney (#88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro) third, and Kostecki fourth, while Mark Winterbottom (#18 DeWalt Camaro) made for an all-Chevrolet top five.

Tim Slade remained a spectator as PremiAir Racing continued to repair the #23 Nulon Camaro after his crash in Practice 1.

Qualifying for Race 3

It was an untidy start to the session for two of the quicker drivers in the field.

Feeney locked the inside-front at Ascari and ran up the escape road, while Practice 2 fast man Andre Heimgartner (#8 R&J Batteries Camaro) went off at Turn 3 and was followed by Todd Hazelwood (#3 CoolDrive Mustang).

DJR duo Will Davison (#17 Shell V-Power Mustang) and De Pasquale were first and second at the end of the first runs on a 1:50.0632s and 1:50.0670s respectively.

Winterbottom sat fourth courtesy of a 1:50.1910s on his initial flyer, after which he bumped the wall exiting Turn 5 and bent the left rear corner of the #18 Team 18 entry.

When the field came back out for their second runs, James Courtney (#5 Snowy River Caravans Mustang) went top on a 1:50.0303s then Cameron Waters (#6 Monster Energy Mustang) on a 1:49.5247s and Kostecki on a 1:49.3568s.

De Pasquale fired in a 1:49.3167s just before the chequered flag, after which van Gisbergen moved to third on a 1:49.3883s, leaving Chaz Mostert (#25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang) fourth on a 1:49.3965s.

Rounding out the top 10 were Waters, Brown, Jack Le Brocq (#34 Truck Assist Camaro), Feeney, Matt Payne (#19 Penrite Mustang), and Nick Percat (#2 Mobil 1 NTI Mustang), while Davison ended up 15th and Winterbottom was pushed back to 17th, with Heimgartner 19th.

Qualifying for Race 4

Van Gisbergen’s Practice 1 crash meant he missed Practice 2 and hence would not turn his first lap of the weekend on a super soft tyre until Qualifying for Race 4.

He laid down a 1:47.5849s which was bettered only by Brown’s 1:47.4258s by the end of the first runs, with Mostert third on a 1:47.6735s and Waters fourth after two ragged push laps.

On the first, he ran wide at Turn 3 and bailed, before managing to log a 1:47.6918s despite a big slide through the Turn 8 sweeper which had brought van Gisbergen undone earlier in the day.

Feeney jumped to provisional pole with a 1:47.3326s at the start of his second run before Brown set a 1:47.2733s and Kostecki moved onto Row 2 with a 1:47.3677s.

The chequered flag then came out and it was van Gisbergen who snatched first position with a 1:47.2537s.

Winterbottom was classified 0.1368s off the pace in fifth, with Reynolds first of the Ford contingent in sixth at 0.2057s away from pole.

The rest of the top 12 was also Ford drivers, namely Waters, Davison, Courtney, and Mostert, the latter of whom scraped the #25 Mobil 1 Mustang on the wall exiting Turn 5 late in the piece, then De Pasquale and Thomas Randle (#55 Castrol Mustang).

Race 3 at the Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix event starts at 17:45 local time/AEDT.

Results: Qualifying for Race 3, Beaurepaires Melbourne SuperSprint Updated

Results: Qualifying for Race 4, Beaurepaires Melbourne SuperSprint Updated