Scott McLaughlin produced a stunning lap to claim the Armor All pole position for Race 6 at the WD-40 Phillip Island 500.
The DJR Team Penske sat atop the times for the majority of the session before unleashing a blistering 1:29.06s effort in the dying moments of qualifying.
McLaughlin’s fastest ever Supercar lap at the circuit was an impressive 0.28s faster than his nearest rival and team-mate Fabian Coulthard, who secured another front row lockout for the Shell V Power Racing Team.
“That was fun,” said McLaughlin.
“I love this track and have a great car and a great team behind me.
“My car was sensational. It suited me so well, a bit of a slide but it was a lot of fun.
“There’s no such thing as the perfect lap but that was close.”
Jamie Whincup headed the Triple Eight charge in third with the six-time champion joined on the second row by Mark Winterbottom, courtesy of a last gasp effort.
Prodrive backed up their strong pace on Saturday with Cameron Waters and Chaz Mostert occupying the third row.
Craig Lowndes placed his TeamVortex Commodore in seventh spot ahead of reigning champion Shane van Gisbergen, who struggled for grip during the hit-out.
“We had a pretty good qualifying car yesterday and we didn’t maximise it today,” said van Gisbergen.
“We changed back a little bit for the last run but for us, by our standards, not very good.
“Hopefully it will pay back in the race though, we are a little more conservative than we would be, but yeah we will see.
“Balance was really good, just the grip was not there, pretty frustrating when it was not there, we are missing something but we will get there.”
Nissan Motorsport’s Michael Caruso managed to sneak into the top 10 in ninth ahead of team-mate Rick Kelly.
Erebus Motorsport’s David Reynolds just missed out on the top 10 in 11th position, while Tim Slade was the fastest Brad Jones Racing pilot in 12th spot.
Simona de Silvestro continued her encouraging showing in P21 as she out-qualified Dale Wood, James Moffat, Tim Blanchard, Alex Rullo and Taz Douglas.
Today’s 250km heat is set to begin at 1350 AEST.
Result: Virgin Australia Supercars Championship WD-40 Phillip Island 500 Race 6 Qualifying
| 1 | Shell V-Power Racing Team | Scott McLaughlin | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:29.0621RS | |
| 2 | Shell V-Power Racing Team | Fabian Coulthard | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:29.3462rS | 00.2841 |
| 3 | Red Bull Holden Racing Aust | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 1:29.4060 S | 00.3439 |
| 4 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:29.6765 S | 00.6144 |
| 5 | Monster Energy Racing | Cameron Waters | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:29.7032 S | 00.6411 |
| 6 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:29.7236 S | 00.6615 |
| 7 | TeamVortex | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 1:29.8470 S | 00.7849 |
| 8 | Red Bull Holden Racing Aust | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 1:29.9305 S | 00.8684 |
| 9 | Nissan Motorsport | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 1:29.9915 S | 00.9294 |
| 10 | Sengled Racing | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:30.0638 S | 01.0017 |
| 11 | Erebus Penrite Racing | David Reynolds | Holden Commodore VF | 1:30.0663 S | 01.0042 |
| 12 | Freightliner Racing | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 1:30.0694 S | 01.0073 |
| 13 | Mobil 1 HSV Racing | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 1:30.1206 S | 01.0585 |
| 14 | MEGA Racing | Jason Bright | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:30.1857 S | 01.1236 |
| 15 | Preston Hire Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VF | 1:30.2988 S | 01.2367 |
| 16 | carsales Racing | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:30.3133 S | 01.2512 |
| 17 | TEKNO Woodstock Racing | Will Davison | Holden Commodore VF | 1:30.3958 S | 01.3337 |
| 18 | Mobil 1 HSV Racing | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore VF | 1:30.4078 S | 01.3457 |
| 19 | BIANTE 1:1 | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | 1:30.4605 S | 01.3984 |
| 20 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 1:30.5572 S | 01.4951 |
| 21 | Team Harvey Norman | Simona De Silvestro | Nissan Altima | 1:30.6349 S | 01.5728 |
| 22 | Erebus GB Galvanizing Racing | Dale Wood | Holden Commodore VF | 1:30.6834 S | 01.6213 |
| 23 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | James Moffat | Holden Commodore VF | 1:30.7036 S | 01.6415 |
| 24 | Team CoolDrive | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VF | 1:30.9313 S | 01.8692 |
| 25 | Repair Management Aust Racing | Alex Rullo | Holden Commodore VF | 1:31.2149 S | 02.1528 |
| 26 | Repair Management Aust Racing | Taz Douglas | Holden Commodore VF | 1:31.3978 S | 02.3357 |
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