Garry Jacobson has broken the practice record on his way, provisionally, to Armor All Pole Position for Race 2 of the Dunlop Super2 Series at Sandown.
Jacobson clocked a 1:08.5820s after the chequered flag as the field ran on super soft tyres for the first round in five years.
There is a level of uncertainty about the result, however, given that Race Control announced an investigation into contact between he and Chris Pither at the end of the first runs.
Pither was on a fast lap, personal best to the second sector, when he came up on Jacobson and nudged the #26 MW Motorsport Nissan Altima through Dandenong Road.
The Kiwi pitted the slightly dented #44 Garry Rogers Motorsport VF Commodore at the end of the lap while his engineer David Swenson confirmed that the car was on warm up tyres for the first run, like the bulk of the field.
There was no subsequent notification on the timing monitor about the outcome of the investigation.
In any event, Brodie Kostecki will start from the front row fresh off his first race win in the series the afternoon prior.
He had been the first under the practice record on his second flyer in the #57 Kostecki Brothers Racing VF Commodore, a lap which held up all the way until Jacobson’s late effort.
Paul Dumbrell (#88 Eggleston Motorsport VF Commodore) and Pither came in within 0.2s of Jacobson’s time to qualify on the second row, while Dean Fiore was the other man under Pither’s two-day-old practice record.
Rounding out the top 10 were Kurt Kostecki (#55 Kostecki Brothers Racing VF Commodore), Macauley Jones (#14 Brad Jones Racing VF Commodore), Alex Rullo (#62 MW Motorsport Nissan Altima), Thomas Randle (#5 Tickford Racing FGX Falcon), and Jake Kostecki (#56 Kostecki Brothers Racing VF Commodore).
Pirtek Enduro Cup co-drivers Bryce Fullwood (#16 Matt Stone Racing VF Commodore) and Will Brown (#38 Eggleston Motorsport VF Commodore) qualified on the sixth row.
The second and final race of the weekend, scheduled for 22 laps, starts at 1205 local time/AEST.
Results: Armor All Qualifying
Pos | Num | Team/Sponsor | Driver | Car | Fastest lap | Split |
1 | 26 | MEGA Fuels / MWM | Garry Jacobson | Nissan Altima | 1:08.5820 | |
2 | 57 | Arcoplate Racing | Brodie Kostecki | Holden Commodore VF | 1:08.6850 | 0:00.1030 |
3 | 88 | Eggleston Motorsport | Paul Dumbrell | Holden Commodore VF | 1:08.7169 | 0:00.1349 |
4 | 44 | Wilson Security PAYCE GRM | Chris Pither | Holden Commodore VF | 1:08.7259 | 0:00.1439 |
5 | 23 | MW Motorsport | Dean Fiore | Nissan Altima | 1:08.8339 | 0:00.2519 |
6 | 55 | Arcoplate Racing | Kurt Kostecki | Holden Commodore VF | 1:08.9517 | 0:00.3697 |
7 | 14 | Payce | Macauley Jones | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.0021 | 0:00.4201 |
8 | 62 | Land Surveys / MWM | Alex Rullo | Nissan Altima | 1:09.0217 | 0:00.4397 |
9 | 5 | Skye Sands | Thomas Randle | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:09.0382 | 0:00.4562 |
10 | 56 | Arcoplate Racing | Jake Kostecki | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.0920 | 0:00.5100 |
11 | 16 | Middy’s Electrical | Bryce Fullwood | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.0965 | 0:00.5145 |
12 | 38 | Eggleston Motorsport | William Brown | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.1726 | 0:00.5906 |
13 | 21 | SCT Logistics | Jack Smith | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.1998 | 0:00.6178 |
14 | 49 | Dynamic Supplies | Jordan Boys | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.4035 | 0:00.8215 |
15 | 54 | Eggleston Motorsport | Nathan Morcom | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.4638 | 0:00.8818 |
16 | 8 | BGD Architects | Zane Goddard | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.4804 | 0:00.8984 |
17 | 15 | Auto One Racing | Adam Marjoram | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.4933 | 0:00.9113 |
18 | 63 | Eggleston Motorsport | Dominic Storey | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.5280 | 0:00.9460 |
19 | 99 | Wilson Security PAYCE GRM | Mason Barbera | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.5292 | 0:00.9472 |
20 | 67 | Paul Morris Motorsport | Shae Davies | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:09.5460 | 0:00.9640 |
21 | 18 | Auto One Albury | Matthew Chahda | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.7011 | 0:01.1191 |
22 | 51 | Grove Hire | Brenton Grove | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.7254 | 0:01.1434 |
23 | 50 | MotorsportPartsAustralia.com.a | Ricky Capo | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.8098 | 0:01.2278 |