Chris Pither claimed pole position for the first of two Dunlop Series races as the series celebrates its 100th round at Barbagallo Raceway this weekend.

The Ice Break Ford Falcon driver surged to the top of the time sheets in the dying minutes of the session with an impressive 57.2102s effort.

Reigning champion Paul Dumbrell topped the majority of the second part of qualifying before Jack Le Brocq and then Pither usurped the Red Bull Racing V8 Supercars co-driver.

Pither set the pace in practice on Friday despite being forced to sit out the opening session due to an electrical fault on his car.

“I’m over the moon we had a tough start to weekend so hopefully this is the start of a good season,” said Pither.

Prodrive Racing Australia’s Cameron Waters will start on the front row having trailed Pither by just 0.0542s.

Erebus Motorsport co-driver Le Brocq will head row two in third spot with Dumbrell fourth in the Eggleston Motorsport Holden Commodore, just three tenths adrift of the pace.

Andrew Jones was fifth fastest ahead of Super Black Racing’s Simon Evans and Aaren Russell, who topped the first part of qualifying.

Rising star Todd Hazelwood, veteran Paul Morris and former V8 Utes racer Jesse Dixon completed the top 10.

Result: Dunlop Series Qualifying