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Supercars Championship leader Brodie Kostecki has bagged pole position for Race 20 at The Bend while Dick Johnson Racing missed the top 10.
The two Shell V-Power Racing Team Mustangs were among the fastest cars in the first run of Part 2 of knockout qualifying but when Will Davison and Anton De Pasquale remained in pit lane for the final minutes of the segment, there were indeed knocked out of the top 10.
Erebus Motorsport’s Kostecki got through and would set a 1:49.5816s in the #99 Coca-Cola Camaro to grab pole for the opening race at the OTR SuperSprint by 0.3668s.
Tickford Racing’s Thomas Randle will join him on the front row in the #55 Castrol Mustang, while Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Shane van Gisbergen qualified sixth despite ongoing handling niggles in the #97 Red Bull Ampol Camaro.
At the start of the decisive, 10-minute stanza, only Broc Feeney (#88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro) and Randle rolled out, the former known to be on used tyres as he banked a 1:50.3700s while the latter set a 1:50.5718s.
All 10 drivers exited the pits with a handful of minutes remaining and Chaz Mostert (#25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang) went provisional pole on a 1:50.2098s before Cameron Waters (#6 Monster Energy Mustang) clocked a 1:49.9714s.
The chequered flag out before both Waters and Mostert were blown out of the water by Kostecki, then Randle reclaimed a berth on the front row with a 1:49.9484s.
Waters ended up third, from Feeney on a 1:50.0723s, Mostert, and van Gisbergen on a 1:50.4595s.
Rounding out the top 10 in Qualifying for Race 20 were Matt Payne (#19 Penrite Mustang), Will Brown (#9 Coca-Cola Camaro), Andre Heimgartner (#8 R&J Batteries Camaro), and Jack Le Brocq (#34 Truck Assist Camaro).
Earlier, Kostecki set the pace in Part 2 while DJR gambled and lost.
Ahead of the final runs, Waters sat 12th, Feeney 14th, and van Gisbergen 18th.
Davison (#17 Mustang) in first on a 1:50.4746s and De Pasquale (#11 Mustang) in third on a 1:50.5227s remained in the pits as the other 18 remaining drivers rolled out for a final run.
Feeney, who was off the pace earlier in the session, jumped to the top on a 1:50.0479s, and that was the first of a string of laps which rapidly relegated the DJR duo.
Kostecki took over first position on a 1:49.8622s before Randle knocked De Pasquale out, then van Gisbergen jumped to fifth with a 1:50.2780s which pushed Davison to 11th.
With the chequered flag out, Heimgartner rescued a berth in the final 10 minutes with a 1:50.2403s which bumped his predecessor in the #8 Brad Jones Racing entry, Nick Percat, out of the top 10.
Percat is set to start 11th, from James Courtney in a repaired #5 Snowy River Caravans Mustang, Davison, De Pasquale, James Golding (#31 Nulon Camaro), David Reynolds (#26 Penrite Mustang), Cameron Hill (#35 Truck Assist Camaro), Tim Slade (#23 Nulon Camaro), Bryce Fullwood (#14 Middy’s Camaro), and Macauley Jones (#96 Pizza Hut Camaro).
Back in Part 1, Kostecki was fastest on a 1:50.1580s.
The session was red-flagged almost as soon as it had begun due to a rock on the track at the Turn 8/Turn 9/Turn 10 complex.
Meanwhile, Triple Eight was changing the power steering pump on the #97 Camaro after van Gisbergen had complained of handling dramas during both practice sessions, although he would ultimately set a 1:40.4974s to advance from Part 1 in ninth position.
A 15-minute segment effectively became a 13-minute segment once the session went green again, although neither Mostert nor Waters had a time to their name even with a minute to go.
They booked their berths in Part 2 to bump both of the Team 18 entries, with Scott Pye (#20 BP Ultimate Camaro) to start 21st and Mark Winterbottom (#18 DeWalt Camaro) 23rd.
Pye and Winterbottom were split in the end by Todd Hazelwood (#3 CoolDrive Mustang), with the field to be rounded out by Jack Smith (#4 SCT Logistics Camaro) and Declan Fraser (#56 Tradie Mustang).
Race 20 of the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship, a 20-lapper, is set to start at 16:30 local time/17:00 AEST.
