Jamie Whincup will be the last man out in tomorrow’s Top 10 Shootout after topping Friday qualifying for the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.
The TeamVodafone driver’s 2:07.71s best effort withstood an impressive final minute charge from Lockwood Racing’s Fabian Coulthard by just 0.08s.
Mark Winterbottom edged team-mate Will Davison for third after the chequered flag fell.
Craig Lowndes, Shane van Gisbergen, Tim Slade, Garth Tander, Steve Owen and David Reynolds filled fifth through 10th.
There was early drama for Tander, who caused a red flag by hitting the tyre barriers at Griffins Bend on just his second flying lap.
The HRT driver later endured a trip down the Hell Corner escaped road as he struggled with braking performance, before bouncing back to book a place in Saturday’s Shootout.
Davison set the pace immediately after the resumption, clocking a 2:08.05s lap that would stand as the fastest for almost 30 of the 40 minutes.
Whincup by comparison could manage just 2:08.28s on his first new tyre set before returning to the track for the final minutes to record the session topping time.
A sixth practice session will take place at 1025 local time tomorrow before the Top 10 Shootout at 1630.
See below for the full qualifying result
| 1 | TeamVodafone | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:07.7145 | |
| 2 | Lockwood Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:07.7931 | 0:00.0786 |
| 3 | Orrcon Steel FPR Ford | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 2:07.9231 | 0:00.2086 |
| 4 | Trading Post FPR Ford | Will Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 2:07.9296 | 0:00.2151 |
| 5 | TeamVodafone | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:07.9663 | 0:00.2518 |
| 6 | SP Tools Racing | Shane Van Gisbergen | Ford Falcon FG | 2:08.0799 | 0:00.3654 |
| 7 | Lucky 7 Racing | Tim Slade | Ford Falcon FG | 2:08.0912 | 0:00.3767 |
| 8 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:08.1045 | 0:00.3900 |
| 9 | VIP Petfoods | Steve Owen | Ford Falcon FG | 2:08.1386 | 0:00.4241 |
| 10 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG | 2:08.2312 | 0:00.5167 |
| 11 | Tekno Autosports | Jonathon Webb | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:08.3040 | 0:00.5895 |
| 12 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:08.3571 | 0:00.6426 |
| 13 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Rick Kelly | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:08.3925 | 0:00.6780 |
| 14 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:08.4692 | 0:00.7547 |
| 15 | Irwin Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Ford Falcon FG | 2:08.5379 | 0:00.8234 |
| 16 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Michael Caruso | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:08.5409 | 0:00.8264 |
| 17 | Team Norton DJR | James Moffat | Ford Falcon FG | 2:08.5849 | 0:00.8704 |
| 18 | Jim Beam Racing | Steven Johnson | Ford Falcon FG | 2:08.6011 | 0:00.8866 |
| 19 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Todd Kelly | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:08.8235 | 0:01.1090 |
| 20 | Tekno Autosports | Michael Patrizi | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:08.8240 | 0:01.1095 |
| 21 | Jim Beam Racing | Dean Fiore | Ford Falcon FG | 2:08.8253 | 0:01.1108 |
| 22 | Wilson Security Racing | David Wall | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:08.9091 | 0:01.1946 |
| 23 | Pepsi Max Crew | Greg Murphy | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:08.9327 | 0:01.2182 |
| 24 | Team Hiflex | Tony D’Alberto | Ford Falcon FG | 2:08.9341 | 0:01.2196 |
| 25 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:08.9822 | 0:01.2677 |
| 26 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Jack Perkins | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:09.1725 | 0:01.4580 |
| 27 | Team iSelect | Taz Douglas | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:09.2376 | 0:01.5231 |
| 28 | Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing | Karl Reindler | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:09.3767 | 0:01.6622 |
| 29 | Shannons carsales.com.au | Cameron Waters | Holden Commodore VE2 | 2:10.4865 | 0:02.7720 |
