The Peter Hackett/Dominic Storey Mercedes will start tomorrow’s Highlands 501 from pole position after the latter clocked the fastest lap in the Top 10 Shootout.
Storey was last out for his one-lap dash after the Eggleston Motorsport pair set the quickest combined time in the two 20-minute qualifying sessions.
The lap was good enough to beat Alvaro Parente by 0.037s, the Portuguese driver having held top spot for much of the session thanks to the impressive effort in the McLaren he shares Fraser Ross.
“(I’m) stoked with that,” said Storey.
“That was what you call pulling it on the line. We didn’t know what strategy to run with in the Top 10 (Shootout), so we rolled with what we thought was going to be right and the result shows.
“(It’s a) fantastic result for Peter and I and the whole Eggleston crew, so I’m really looking forward to tomorrow now.”
Starting the Australian Endurance Championship finale from third will be the Max Twigg/Tony D’Alberto driven Mercedes, with the Porsche of Liam Talbot/John Martin fourth.
Shane van Gisbergen qualified the McLaren which he shares with ‘Mad Mike’ Whiddett in fifth place on a 1:31.714s, almost an entire second off the pole time set by Storey.
Championship leaders Tim Miles and Jaxon Evans will start in sixth aboard the Jamec Pem Audi, followed by Steven Richards and Dylan O’Keeffe in the BMW M6 GT3 in seventh and the Roger Lago/David Russell Lamborghini in eighth.
On the fifth row will be Tony Quinn and Andrew Waite in their McLaren, alongside Justin McMillian and Glen Wood in a Lamborghini.
Tomorrow’s Highlands 501 begins at 1240 local time (1040 AEDT), starting with the annual Le Mans running start where one driver sprints to their car before their partner can drive off.
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