Scott McLaughlin has taken his 12th pole position of the campaign at the Sydney Super Sprint to secure the Armor All Pole Award for the season with five events remaining.
The DJR Team Penske driver came through a hotly contested qualifying session to take his sixth consecutive pole as he eclipsed Prodrive’s Mark Winterbottom by 0.2s in the dying moments of the session.
McLaughlin’s impressive record breaking 1:28.32s saw him snare the $10,000 prize for the most poles scored in the season, with his tally now unable to be beaten.
The Kiwi is just one behind Jamie Whincup’s most poles scored in a season record.
“I’m almost looking forward to the Christmas party with the boys, it’s going to be awesome,” said McLaughlin.
“Thank you to everyone at Shell V-Power Racing, the car’s fantastic, all our supporters and everyone here at the track has been fantastic.
Secure your spot today.
“To drive a car this good is a testament to my team and I’m a very lucky boy.”
The timing screens lit up in the final minutes with Fabian Coulthard, Shane van Gisbergen and Mark Winterbottom all enjoying brief spells at the top of the times.
Winterbottom looked set to take pole before McLaughlin’s effort demoted him to second in the #5 Ford Falcon.
Red Bull HRT’s Van Gisbergen will head up the second row with Coulthard fourth and Jamie Whincup in fifth.
Brad Jones Racing’s Tim Slade was a tenth back in sixth ahead of Queensland Raceway winner Chaz Mostert (Prodrive) and Erebus Motorsport’s David Reynolds.
Mobil 1 HSV Racing showed signs of improvement as Scott Pye snared ninth while Craig Lowndes rounded out the top 10.
Race 17 is scheduled to start at 1625 local time.
Results: Armor All Qualifying Race 17 , Red Rooster Sydney Super Sprint
| 1 | Shell V-Power Racing Team | Scott McLaughlin | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:28.3209RSS | |
| 2 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:28.5359rSS | 00.2150 |
| 3 | Red Bull Holden Racing Aust | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.5931rSS | 00.2722 |
| 4 | Shell V-Power Racing Team | Fabian Coulthard | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:28.5972rSS | 00.2763 |
| 5 | Red Bull Holden Racing Aust | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.6036rSS | 00.2827 |
| 6 | Freightliner Racing | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.6965rSS | 00.3756 |
| 7 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:28.8757 SS | 00.5548 |
| 8 | Erebus Penrite Racing | David Reynolds | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.9007 SS | 00.5798 |
| 9 | Mobil 1 HSV Racing | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.9251 SS | 00.6042 |
| 10 | TeamVortex | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.9300 SS | 00.6091 |
| 11 | Nissan Motorsport | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 1:29.0958 SS | 00.7749 |
| 12 | Monster Energy Racing | Cameron Waters | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:29.1037 SS | 00.7828 |
| 13 | carsales Racing | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:29.1775 SS | 00.8566 |
| 14 | TEKNO Woodstock Racing | Will Davison | Holden Commodore VF | 1:29.2166 SS | 00.8957 |
| 15 | Mobil 1 HSV Racing | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 1:29.2280 SS | 00.9071 |
| 16 | MEGA Racing | Jason Bright | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:29.3586 SS | 01.0377 |
| 17 | Sengled Racing | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:29.3745 SS | 01.0536 |
| 18 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 1:29.3974 SS | 01.0765 |
| 19 | ACDelco Racing | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | 1:29.4346 SS | 01.1137 |
| 20 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | James Moffat | Holden Commodore VF | 1:29.4507 SS | 01.1298 |
| 21 | Preston Hire Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VF | 1:29.6030 SS | 01.2821 |
| 22 | Team Harvey Norman | Simona De Silvestro | Nissan Altima | 1:29.6507 SS | 01.3298 |
| 23 | Team CoolDrive | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VF | 1:29.6952 SS | 01.3743 |
| 24 | Erebus GB Galvanizing Racing | Dale Wood | Holden Commodore VF | 1:29.8395 SS | 01.5186 |
| 25 | Repair Management Aust Racing | Alex Davison | Holden Commodore VF | 1:30.0512 SS | 01.7303 |
| 26 | Repair Management Aust Racing | Alex Rullo | Holden Commodore VF | 1:30.1738 SS | 01.8529 |
VIDEO: McLaughlin’s pole lap
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