Thomas Maxwell scorched to pole position as the only driver to dip into the 1:08s bracket during Dunlop Super2 Series Qualifying for Race 2 of the weekend at Sandown.
The Nissan Altima driver headed MW Motorsport team-mate Dean Fiore in the two-part session, which saw the Super3 class topped once again by Kai Allen.
Brad Vaughan set the early running in the opening 10-minute segment, exclusively for Super3 runners, with a 1:10.9085s.
He lowered that next time around with a 1:09.9868s to extend his advantage over Blake Fardell, who sat second.
Allen kept his powder dry in the opening minutes, emerging only at the midway point, and his maiden effort was scrubbed when he picked up a kerb strike at Turn 6.
At the next time of asking, he went fastest with a 1:09.7052s, more than a quarter of a second up on Vaughan’s earlier lap.
That was the way it ended, with Allen on the class pole from Vaughan and Fardell.
The Super2 segment of the session was opened by Declan Fraser, the Triple Eight driver the first car on track.
It was Tyler Everingham, however, who banked the best lap in the opening minutes with a 1:09.4543s.
Tyre temperature was a key concern, with Fraser and Cameron Hill both having moments on their first push laps.
At the second time of asking, Hill moved to the top of the timesheet with a 1:09.2084s, with Jay Hanson second and Matt Payne third.
Fraser then improved to a 1:09.1993s, only to be deposed by his team-mate Hill, who flashed across the line soon after with a 1:09.0668s.
Matt Chahda slotted in second with three minutes remaining, his effort just 0.1176s off Hill’s provisional pole effort.
Maxwell then shot to the top in the Nissan Altima, logging a 1:08.9462s with Fiore slotting into second-best soon after.
A mistake under braking for Turn 1 for Zak Best left him stuck in the mud with a minute remaining.
The session continued without a red flag, the chequered flying soon after with Maxwell fastest from Fiore, Hill, Payne, and Chahda.
Such was the pace that Allen’s Super3 best was good enough for just 16th overall, and second-best in class Vaughan 19th outright.
The combined Super2 and Super3 field returns for Race 2 of the weekend at 15:00 AEST.
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