Scott McLaughlin produced a stunning performance to the claim the Armor All pole position for Race 16 at the Coates Hire Ipswich Super Sprint.
The championship leader elected to complete three runs, lowering his benchmark on three occasions, resulting in an impressive 1:08.42s which is the fastest ever Supercar lap at Queensland Raceway.
McLaughlin’s impressive display earned his 11th pole position of the season while becoming the first driver to score five consecutive poles since Dick Johnson in 1988.
“It was nice to go again on the last set of tyres and go faster. Ludo’s always pushing me there so it’s awesome, 11 poles this year’s pretty surreal and (I’m) just living the dream.
“It’s pretty special. At the end of the day it’s a team effort and I’m only as good as the team around me and Shell V-Power Racing, and to have Dick (Johnson) by my side as a mentor as well with the #17 on the door’s pretty special, so hopefully we’ll go do it proud in Queensland this weekend.”
Prodrive Racing Australia’s Chaz Mostert leapt up to second in the dying moments with the Queenslander 0.18s adrift of McLaughlin.
Triple Eight’s Jamie Whincup improved on his Saturday display to claim third, albeit two tenths shy of pole.
Fabian Coulthard occupied second until the final minutes before sliding down to fourth in the sister DJR Team Penske Ford.
Shane van Gisbergen managed to slot his Red Bull Holden into fifth with Mark Winterbottom alongside in the #5 Prodrive Ford.
The TeamVortex Commodore of Craig Lowndes was seventh ahead of Brad Jones Racing’s Nick Percat.
For the second meeting in a row Prodrive ensured all of its cars featured in the top 10 with Jason Bright ninth ahead of team-mate Cameron Waters.
Tekno Autosports’ Will Davison just missed out on the top 10 by 0.0026s in front of the top Nissan of Todd Kelly.
James Courtney was fastest of the Mobil 1 HSV Racing Commodores in 14th spot.
Todd Hazelwood was the fastest of the wildcard runners in 21st position in the Matt Stone Racing Holden.
The Supercars field will return for a 65 lap race which is scheduled for 1405 local time.
Results: Virgin Australia Supercars Championship: Coates Hire Ipswich Super Sprint: ARMOR ALL Qualifying for Race 16
| 1 | Shell V-Power Racing Team | Scott McLaughlin | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:08.4208 | |
| 2 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:08.6019 | 0:00.1811 |
| 3 | Red Bull Holden Racing Aust | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 1:08.6411 | 0:00.2203 |
| 4 | Shell V-Power Racing Team | Fabian Coulthard | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:08.7315 | 0:00.3107 |
| 5 | Red Bull Holden Racing Aust | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 1:08.7732 | 0:00.3524 |
| 6 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:08.9142 | 0:00.4934 |
| 7 | TeamVortex | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 1:08.9338 | 0:00.5130 |
| 8 | Dunlop Racing | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | 1:08.9493 | 0:00.5285 |
| 9 | MEGA Racing | Jason Bright | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:08.9495 | 0:00.5287 |
| 10 | Monster Energy Racing | Cameron Waters | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:08.9539 | 0:00.5331 |
| 11 | TEKNO Woodstock Racing | Will Davison | Holden Commodore VF | 1:08.9565 | 0:00.5357 |
| 12 | carsales Racing | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:08.9765 | 0:00.5557 |
| 13 | Sengled Racing | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:09.0077 | 0:00.5869 |
| 14 | Mobil 1 HSV Racing | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.0154 | 0:00.5946 |
| 15 | Erebus Penrite Racing | David Reynolds | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.0582 | 0:00.6374 |
| 16 | Freightliner Racing | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.0726 | 0:00.6518 |
| 17 | Mobil 1 HSV Racing | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.1550 | 0:00.7342 |
| 18 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.2266 | 0:00.8058 |
| 19 | Preston Hire Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.2946 | 0:00.8738 |
| 20 | Team CoolDrive | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.3008 | 0:00.8800 |
| 21 | Bigmate Racing | Todd Hazelwood | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.3013 | 0:00.8805 |
| 22 | Nissan Motorsport | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 1:09.3020 | 0:00.8812 |
| 23 | Erebus GB Galvanizing Racing | Dale Wood | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.4022 | 0:00.9814 |
| 24 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | James Golding | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.4174 | 0:00.9966 |
| 25 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | James Moffat | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.5022 | 0:01.0814 |
| 26 | LOCO Energy Drink / MWM | Shae Davies | Nissan Altima | 1:09.5745 | 0:01.1537 |
| 27 | Team Harvey Norman | Simona De Silvestro | Nissan Altima | 1:09.6317 | 0:01.2109 |
| 28 | GoGetta Racing / MWM | Jack Le Brocq | Nissan Altima | 1:09.6397 | 0:01.2189 |
| 29 | Repair Management Aust Racing | Alex Davison | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.8413 | 0:01.4205 |
| 30 | Repair Management Aust Racing | Alex Rullo | Holden Commodore VF | 1:10.5077 | 0:02.0869 |
Discussion about this post