Scott McLaughlin and Craig Lowndes will share the front-row for both Saturday sprints at Barbagallo after scoring a pole position apiece in the back-to-back qualifying sessions.
McLaughlin’s Volvo made the best of a frantic end to the opening 10 minute hit-out, which set the grid for Race 14.
The session saw Jamie Whincup, Russell Ingall, Lowndes and eventually McLaughlin all shoot to the top during the final minute.
The result marked McLaughlin’s fourth Amror All Pole Award of the season and his third in succession following his last two efforts at Pukekohe.
The Race 15 qualifying session unfolded in far different circumstances to the first, with Lowndes putting down the eventual pole time on his very first lap.
The Red Bull Holden driver then forwent a second attempt in order to save tyres; watching on as the remaining 24 runners failed to eclipse his benchmark.
Ingall was the surprise of the morning, ending up third behind the leading duo in both sessions.
Whincup was demoted to just 11th in the Race 14 order amid the rush of late fast times, but will share the second-row with Ingall for Race 15.
Ford Performance Racing team-mates Mark Winterbottom and Chaz Mostert managed top 10 results in both outings, as did the Erebus Mercedes of Will Davison and the Brad Jones Racing Holden of Fabian Coulthard.
Race 14 is scheduled for 1225 local time.
See below for the full qualifying result for Race 14
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap | |
| 1 | 33 | Scott McLaughlin | Valvoline Racing GRM | Volvo S60 | 0:55.4635 | |
| 2 | 888 | Craig Lowndes | Red Bull Racing Australi | Holden Commodore VF | 0:55.4768 | 0:00.0133 |
| 3 | 23 | Russell Ingall | Repair Management Aust R | Holden Commodore VF | 0:55.5736 | 0:00.1101 |
| 4 | 14 | Fabian Coulthard | Lockwood Racing | Holden Commodore VF | 0:55.5750 | 0:00.1115 |
| 5 | 4 | Lee Holdsworth | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Mercedes E63 AMG | 0:55.5864 | 0:00.1229 |
| 6 | 6 | Chaz Mostert | Ford Pepsi Max Crew | Ford Falcon FG | 0:55.6057 | 0:00.1422 |
| 7 | 9 | Will Davison | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Mercedes E63 AMG | 0:55.6233 | 0:00.1598 |
| 8 | 5 | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Pepsi Max Crew | Ford Falcon FG | 0:55.6489 | 0:00.1854 |
| 9 | 55 | David Reynolds | The Bottle-O Racing Team | Ford Falcon FG | 0:55.6490 | 0:00.1855 |
| 10 | 21 | Dale Wood | Team Advam/GB | Holden Commodore VF | 0:55.6628 | 0:00.1993 |
| 11 | 1 | Jamie Whincup | Red Bull Racing Australi | Holden Commodore VF | 0:55.6693 | 0:00.2058 |
| 12 | 2 | Garth Tander | Holden Racing Team | Holden Commodore VF | 0:55.6805 | 0:00.2170 |
| 13 | 8 | Jason Bright | Team BOC | Holden Commodore VF | 0:55.7357 | 0:00.2722 |
| 14 | 47 | Tim Slade | Supercheap Auto Racing | Holden Commodore VF | 0:55.7448 | 0:00.2813 |
| 15 | 222 | Nick Percat | Walkinshaw Racing | Holden Commodore VF | 0:55.7817 | 0:00.3182 |
| 16 | 22 | James Courtney | Holden Racing Team | Holden Commodore VF | 0:55.8748 | 0:00.4113 |
| 17 | 15 | Rick Kelly | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Nissan Altima | 0:55.9040 | 0:00.4405 |
| 18 | 7 | Todd Kelly | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Nissan Altima | 0:55.9330 | 0:00.4695 |
| 19 | 97 | Shane Van Gisbergen | Team Tekno VIP Petfoods | Holden Commodore VF | 0:55.9798 | 0:00.5163 |
| 20 | 36 | Michael Caruso | Norton Hornets | Nissan Altima | 0:55.9975 | 0:00.5340 |
| 21 | 17 | David Wall | Wilson Security Racing | Ford Falcon FG | 0:56.0233 | 0:00.5598 |
| 22 | 34 | Robert Dahlgren | Valvoline Racing GRM | Volvo S60 | 0:56.2603 | 0:00.7968 |
| 23 | 16 | Scott Pye | Wilson Security Racing | Ford Falcon FG | 0:56.2801 | 0:00.8166 |
| 24 | 360 | James Moffat | Norton Hornets | Nissan Altima | 0:56.2915 | 0:00.8280 |
| 25 | 18 | Jack Perkins | Team JELD-WEN | Ford Falcon FG | 0:56.6468 | 0:01.1833 |
See below for the full qualifying result for Race 15
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap | |
| 1 | 888 | Craig Lowndes | Red Bull Racing Australia | Holden Commodore VF | 0:55.2979 | |
| 2 | 33 | Scott McLaughlin | Valvoline Racing GRM | Volvo S60 | 0:55.3843 | 0:00.0864 |
| 3 | 23 | Russell Ingall | Repair Management Aust Racing | Holden Commodore VF | 0:55.4008 | 0:00.1029 |
| 4 | 1 | Jamie Whincup | Red Bull Racing Australia | Holden Commodore VF | 0:55.4199 | 0:00.1220 |
| 5 | 5 | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Pepsi Max Crew | Ford Falcon FG | 0:55.5297 | 0:00.2318 |
| 6 | 9 | Will Davison | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Mercedes E63 AMG | 0:55.5688 | 0:00.2709 |
| 7 | 22 | James Courtney | Holden Racing Team | Holden Commodore VF | 0:55.5852 | 0:00.2873 |
| 8 | 6 | Chaz Mostert | Ford Pepsi Max Crew | Ford Falcon FG | 0:55.5935 | 0:00.2956 |
| 9 | 4 | Lee Holdsworth | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Mercedes E63 AMG | 0:55.6034 | 0:00.3055 |
| 10 | 14 | Fabian Coulthard | Lockwood Racing | Holden Commodore VF | 0:55.6244 | 0:00.3265 |
| 11 | 47 | Tim Slade | Supercheap Auto Racing | Holden Commodore VF | 0:55.6374 | 0:00.3395 |
| 12 | 17 | David Wall | Wilson Security Racing | Ford Falcon FG | 0:55.6661 | 0:00.3682 |
| 13 | 34 | Robert Dahlgren | Valvoline Racing GRM | Volvo S60 | 0:55.7271 | 0:00.4292 |
| 14 | 16 | Scott Pye | Wilson Security Racing | Ford Falcon FG | 0:55.7299 | 0:00.4320 |
| 15 | 55 | David Reynolds | The Bottle-O Racing Team | Ford Falcon FG | 0:55.7346 | 0:00.4367 |
| 16 | 15 | Rick Kelly | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Nissan Altima | 0:55.7464 | 0:00.4485 |
| 17 | 2 | Garth Tander | Holden Racing Team | Holden Commodore VF | 0:55.7496 | 0:00.4517 |
| 18 | 36 | Michael Caruso | Norton Hornets | Nissan Altima | 0:55.7548 | 0:00.4569 |
| 19 | 21 | Dale Wood | Team Advam/GB | Holden Commodore VF | 0:55.7555 | 0:00.4576 |
| 20 | 97 | Shane Van Gisbergen | Team Tekno VIP Petfoods | Holden Commodore VF | 0:55.7816 | 0:00.4837 |
| 21 | 222 | Nick Percat | Walkinshaw Racing | Holden Commodore VF | 0:55.8465 | 0:00.5486 |
| 22 | 8 | Jason Bright | Team BOC | Holden Commodore VF | 0:55.9619 | 0:00.6640 |
| 23 | 18 | Jack Perkins | Team JELD-WEN | Ford Falcon FG | 0:55.9696 | 0:00.6717 |
| 24 | 360 | James Moffat | Norton Hornets | Nissan Altima | 0:55.9881 | 0:00.6902 |
| 25 | 7 | Todd Kelly | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Nissan Altima | 0:56.0742 | 0:00.7763 |
Discussion about this post