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Brad Jones Racing’s Andre Heimgartner has qualified on pole position for Race 18 at the Sydney SuperNight while Broc Feeney ended up 16th and Shane van Gisbergen 20th.
Heimgartner set the fastest two laps of the third and final segment of the knockout session at Sydney Motorsport Park to put the #8 R&J Batteries Camaro Supercar on pole by a margin of 0.0817s.
He will share the front row with Erebus Motorsport’s Brodie Kostecki (#99 Coca-Cola Camaro), while Tickford Racing’s Cameron Waters (#6 Monster Energy Mustang) earned third and Will Brown (#9 Coca-Cola Camaro) fourth.
Heimgartner had topped Part 2 of the session on a 1:29.2806s and was the only driver to head at the start of the decisive, 10-minute stanza, setting a target of 1:29.4228s for his nine remaining rivals.
All 10 headed out in the final minutes and Brown threatened to go to the top when he set a new fastest first sector, only to slide into the Turn 8 hairpin.
Just up the road, Waters kicked up the dirt exiting the final corner and would clock a 1:29.5766s before Brown broke the beam in a time of 1:29.6076s.
Kostecki slotted into second with a 1:29.4264s just before the chequered flag and Heimgartner thus looked safe.
However, the Kiwi had been dispatched again and he consolidated his place atop the timing screen by setting a 1:29.3447s.
Jack Le Brocq (#34 Truck Assist Camaro) was last to finish the session and took fifth on a 1:29.7577s.
Bryce Fullwood (#14 Middy’s Camaro) will start sixth in the second of the Brad Jones Racing entries, from James Golding (#31 Nulon Camaro), Cameron Hill (#35 Truck Assist Camaro), Chaz Mostert (#25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang), and Will Davison (#17 Shell V-Power Mustang).
Back in Part 2, Le Brocq had been quickest of the initial 10 to set a time, on a 1:29.5523s, before Heimgartner came out and laid down a 1:29.2806s.
Triple Eight Race Engineering team-mates van Gisbergen (#97 Red Bull Ampol Camaro) and Feeney (#88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro) both opted against setting times until the final minutes of the segment, while Davison sat 12th.
Feeney led out of pit lane with four minutes to go, as Heimgartner hopped out of the #8 R&J Batteries Camaro, BJR satisfied their lead driver was through.
With the sun starting to drop behind the Blue Mountains, Feeney finally did set a time, but the 1:30.0420s was only good enough for 13th, with his rivals still to come.
Kostecki went second on a 1:29.5196s and then Fullwood on a 1:29.3371 but the bigger story which was unfolding concerned the two Triple Eight Camaros.
Feeney could not improve while van Gisbergen breached track limits at Brock’s 05 on his first push lap and then quickly bailed out of his next tour, meaning he was stranded in 20th without a time to his name.
With the chequered flag out, David Reynolds (#26 Penrite Mustang) had slipped back to 10th before Golding delivered the knockout blow.
Reynolds is therefore set to line up 11th on the grid, from Thomas Randle (#55 Castrol Mustang), Tim Slade (#23 Nulon Camaro), Mark Winterbottom (#18 DeWalt Camaro), Scott Pye (#20 Hino Camaro), Feeney, Todd Hazelwood (#3 CoolDrive Mustang), James Courtney (#5 Snowy River Caravans Mustang), Macauley Jones (#96 Pizza Hut Camaro), and van Gisbergen.
In Part 1, van Gisbergen was on-song with a 1:29.6459s but there was a notable faller at the first hurdle.
Only half a dozen cars went out in the first two minutes, with Hazelwood establishing the initial marker of 1:30.2133s.
Waters set a new fastest lap of the weekend when he clocked a 1:29.7755s before practice pace-setter van Gisbergen shot to the top on his first flyer and then put his cue in the rack, along with the rest of the top six.
As the final runs began, last-start winner Anton De Pasquale (#11 Shell V-Power Mustang) sat on the bubble in 20th, but was bumped just before the chequered flag and unable to improve subsequently.
Team 18 was rewarded for its bravery by not sending Winterbottom again despite him ending his first run in 13th on a 1:30.2528s, with the 2013 Bathurst 1000 winner ending up 20th for the segment at just 0.0552s faster than Nick Percat (#2 Mobil 1 NTI Mustang).
The latter will hence start 21st, alongside Declan Fraser (#56 Tradie Mustang), from De Pasquale, Matt Payne (#19 Penrite Mustang), and Jack Smith (#4 SCT Logistics Camaro).
Race 18 of the Repco Supercars Championship, a 51-lapper, is scheduled to start at 19:35 local time/AEST.
