Jamie Whincup has taken pole position for Race 15 of V8 Supercars Championship Series after a smooth but aggressive lap around the Townsville street circuit.
Whincup’s lap was sublime, beating Orrcon Steel Ford Performance Racing’s Mark Winterbottom by over 0.3s.
After his pole lap, Whincup said that all focus now turns to this afternoon’s 200km race.
“I couldn’t be happier,” he said.
“It showing all the signs of being a good race car. We’ve got to keep the tyre life, so we’ll soften the rear and harden up the front. I can’t wait for the race.”
Whincup’s TeamVodafone team-mate Criag Lowndes, who took provisional pole and was last onto the track in the top 10 shootout, was on track for pole until turn 11 where he ran wide. The minor mistake was costly, dropping him to 10th place.
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Garth Tander (Toll Holden Racing Team) held the top spot for a number of minutes with a number of drivers unable to beat his time. He eventually took third on the grid.
Rounding out the rest of the top 10 was James Courtney (Jim Beam Racing), Steve Johnson (Jim Beam Racing), Fabian Coulthard (Bundaberg Red Racing), Lee Holdsworth (Fujitsu Racing), Shane van Gisbergen (SP Tools Racing) and Lowndes.
Race 15 of the V8 Championship Series starts at 3.05pm (Australian EST) this afternoon.
Results – Top 10 Shootout
| 1 | 1 | Jamie Whincup | 1:13.3223* |
| 2 | 5 | Mark Winterbottom | 1:13.6361 |
| 3 | 2 | Garth Tander | 1:13.8638 |
| 4 | 14 | Jason Bright | 1:13.8859 |
| 5 | 18 | James Courtney | 1:13.9123 |
| 6 | 17 | Steven Johnson | 1:13.9416 |
| 7 | 24 | Fabian Coulthard | 1:14.0071 |
| 8 | 33 | Lee Holdsworth | 1:14.0149 |
| 9 | 9 | Shane Van Gisbergen | 1:14.5248 |
| 10 | 888 | Craig Lowndes | 1:14.6617 |
