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Scott McLaughlin has scored a 10th Armor All Pole of the season in qualifying for Race 20 at the Coates Hire Ipswich SuperSprint.
McLaughlin will square off with Shane van Gisbergen on the front row, while Chaz Mostert was a late improver to third on the grid.
The #17 Shell V-Power Racing FGX Falcon was top of the timing screen after each of the field’s three runs through qualifying.
McLaughlin lowered the benchmark from 1:08.5504s to 1:08.4900s, just short of his 12-month-old practice record at Queensland Raceway, with his final flyer.
That was just as well given that van Gisbergen would subsequently clock a 1:08.5382s in the #97 Red Bull Holden Racing Team ZB Commodore.
“Everything’s good; we’re very happy,” said McLaughlin, who also qualified on pole for Race 19 the day prior.
“(The) Car was a bit looser today, it was a bit harder, so we need to work on that but I think we’ve got a really good shot today.”
Van Gisbergen improved six positions relative to his Saturday qualifying effort.
“I think we made some progress over night,” he noted.
“Studied hard and did what we could, so hopefully we can take the fight to them.
“Congrats to them, they got another (pole), but we’re in the fight. Hopefully we can have a good race and stay up there.”
Mostert (#55 Supercheap Auto FGX Falcon) was just 0.0592s slower again, bumping Fabian Coulthard (#12 FGX Falcon) in the second DJR Team Penske entry to the outside of Row 2.
David Reynolds’s #9 Penrite ZB Commodore underwent a shock absorber change before the final run and the 2017 Bathurst 1000 winner went on to qualify fifth, putting him alongside Rick Kelly (#15 Castrol Nissan Altima) on the grid.
Jamie Whincup (#1 ZB Commodore) and Craig Lowndes (#888 Autobarn ZB Commodore) make for an all-Triple Eight fourth row, in front of Michael Caruso (#23 Drive Nissan Altima) and Richie Stanaway (#56 Rabble.Club FGX Falcon).
Garth Tander (#33 Wilson Security ZB Commodore) was 11th for a second day in a row, Mark Winterbottom (#5 The Bottle-O FGX Falcon) 16th, and James Courtney (#25 ZB Commodore) the best of the Mobil 1 Boost Mobile entries in 18th.
Nick Percat completed only three laps on his way to 25th in the #8 Brad Jones Racing ZB Commodore, one position ahead of wildcard Kurt Kostecki (#42 Kostecki Brothers Racing VF Commodore).
Race 20 of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship (65 laps) starts at 1405 local time/AEST.
Results: Supercars Race 20 Qualifying
| 1 | 17 Shell V-Power Racing Team | Scott McLaughlin | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:08.4900*SS | |
| 2 | 97 Red Bull Holden Racing Team | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:08.5382 SS | 00.0482 |
| 3 | 55 Supercheap Auto Racing | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:08.5974 SS | 00.1074 |
| 4 | 12 Shell V-Power Racing Team | Fabian Coulthard | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:08.6350 SS | 00.1450 |
| 5 | 9 Erebus Penrite Racing | David Reynolds | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:08.7112 SS | 00.2212 |
| 6 | 15 Castrol Racing | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:08.7582 SS | 00.2682 |
| 7 | 1 Red Bull Holden Racing Team | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:08.8165 SS | 00.3265 |
| 8 | 888 Autobarn Lowndes Racing | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:08.8357 SS | 00.3457 |
| 9 | 23 Drive Racing | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 1:08.8516 SS | 00.3616 |
| 10 | 56 RABBLE.club Racing | Richie Stanaway | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:08.8552 SS | 00.3652 |
| 11 | 33 Wilson Security Racing GRM | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:08.9076 SS | 00.4176 |
| 12 | 19 Tekno Autosport | Jack Le Brocq | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:08.9102 SS | 00.4202 |
| 13 | 120 Milwaukee Racing | Will Davison | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:08.9196 SS | 00.4296 |
| 14 | 7 Plus Fitness Racing | Andre Heimgartner | Nissan Altima | 1:08.9382 SS | 00.4482 |
| 15 | 6 Monster Energy Racing | Cameron Waters | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:08.9767 SS | 00.4867 |
| 16 | 5 The Bottle-O Racing Team | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:08.9799 SS | 00.4899 |
| 17 | 78 Team Harvey Norman | Simona De Silvestro | Nissan Altima | 1:08.9931 SS | 00.5031 |
| 18 | 25 Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing | James Courtney | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:09.0438 SS | 00.5538 |
| 19 | 14 Freightliner Racing | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:09.0605 SS | 00.5705 |
| 20 | 2 Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:09.0970 SS | 00.6070 |
| 21 | 18 Preston Hire Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:09.1551 SS | 00.6651 |
| 22 | 34 Wilson Security Racing GRM | James Golding | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:09.1685 SS | 00.6785 |
| 23 | 99 Erebus Motorsport | Anton de Pasquale | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:09.2684 SS | 00.7784 |
| 24 | 35 Bigmate Racing | Todd Hazelwood | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:09.4135 SS | 00.9235 |
| 25 | 8 Summit Racing | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:09.4185 SS | 00.9285 |
| 26 | 42 Arcoplate Racing | Kurt Kostecki | Holden Commodore VF | 1:09.5348 SS | 01.0448 |
| 27 | 21 Team CoolDrive | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:09.5702 SS | 01.0802 |
