Greg Murphy takes surprise Bathurst pole

Greg Murphy has taken a surprise pole position for the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 in a weather affected Top 10 Shootout.

The sixth car on the circuit for the one-at-a-time session, Murphy clocked a 2:08.80s lap to undercut previous fast-man Will Davison by 0.08s.

Murphy was ensured the Armor All Pole Award when rain began falling prior to Friday’s three fastest drivers venturing onto the circuit.

With Jamie Whincup, Mark Winterbottom and Garth Tander all left to set uncompetitive times, Davison will share the front-row with Murphy, with Craig Lowndes and James Courtney third and fourth respectively.

Shane van Gisbergen, Steve Owen and David Reynolds filled fifth through seventh, while Whincup, Tander and Winterbottom completed the order.

Davison spent the majority of the session at the top of the times, having set a 2:08.88s lap as the first man out.

Van Gisbergen, Courtney and Lowndes all undercut Davison’s Sector 1 time, but could not live with the benchmark set by the Ford Performance Racing driver across the remainder of the lap.

Murphy by contrast took 0.29s from his Ford rival between the start line and Reid Park, before losing out slightly in the final two sectors.

The result marks Murphy’s first pole position since the 2005 Gold Coast event, and is his 13th career pole.

 See below for the full Top 10 Shootout result

See below for Speedcafe.com’s Bathurst Race Guide