Harris soars to V8 SuperUtes pole at Bathurst

Ryal Harris has grabbed pole position for the Haltech V8 SuperUte Series’ maiden race at Mount Panorama.

The revamped category opened the Repco Bathurst 1000 earlier today as the first on-track for practice, and when the intensity kicked up a notch for qualifying a short time ago, it was Harris who rose to the occasion.

All four of the main contenders set their best lap times early in the piece, with Harris, Aaron Borg, Cameron Crick, and David Sieders separated by less than eight tenths.

The pick of the lot was Harris’ 2:30.6183s, putting him just 0.07s clear of title rival and points leader Borg.

Harris’ time represented proof that the first-year V8 SuperUtes are quicker than their predecessors.

The sole dry qualifying time during the diesel-powered SuperUte era was a 2:41.6155s set by Crick in 2019.

And in neither of the final two years (2016 and 2017) of the old V8 Utes running at Bathurst did a competitor manage to set a time under the 2:31 barrier.

Series returnee Ben Walsh will start Race 1 from fifth, ahead of Jaiden Maggs, Gerard Maggs and Craig Woods, who managed just three laps in the session.

Rounding out the 12-car grid was Christopher Formosa, Richard Mork, Michael Formosa, and Craig Jenner, the latter two winding up more than 25 seconds off the pace.

The opening six-lap V8 Utes race of the week gets underway tomorrow at 14:05 (local time/AEDT).

Results: Qualifying, Haltech V8 SuperUte Series