Klark Quinn claimed provisional pole for the opening Australian GT Championship race at the Castrol Edge Townsville 400.
The McLaren 650S driver set the pace from the outset in the first 20 minute qualifying session before lowering his personal best to 1:12.82s in the dying moments.
However, he is unable to celebrate just yet with the grid officially confirmed following the second qualifying session on Saturday.
The fastest times set from either session determine the grid for Saturday’s opening 60 minute race.
Grant Denyer proved to be Quinn’s nearest rival with the Tekno Autosports McLaren, he shares with Jonathon Webb, three tenths of a second adrift.
Roger Lago enjoyed a brief spell at the top of the times before settling for third in his Lamborghini Gallardo R-EX.
The Tekno Autosports McLaren entry of Elliot Barbour was fourth ahead of James Koundouris in the Supabarn Supermarkets Audi R8 GT3.
Championship leader Nathan Morcom could only manage sixth with his Tekno McLaren 0.7s shy of Quinn.
Tony Bates and Steve McLaughlan put the Jamec Pem Racing Audis in seventh and eighth.
The session was briefly halted when Tony Walls spun his Objective Racing Mclaren 650S at Turn 8.
Walls ended the session ninth while the BMW Z4 GT3 of Ricky Capo completed the top 10.
The second 20 minute qualifying session is scheduled for 0925 AEST on Saturday ahead of the first of two 60 minute races at 1140.
Result: Australian GT Championship Qualifying 1
| 1 | Darrell Lea | Klark Quinn (Qld) | McLaren 650S GT3 | 1:12.8207 | |
| 2 | McLaren Melbourne | Grant Denyer (NSW) | McLaren 650S GT3 | 1:13.1534 | 0:00.3327 |
| 3 | JBS Australia | Roger Lago (Qld) | Lamborghini R-EX | 1:13.1860 | 0:00.3653 |
| 4 | Beechwood/SLR/Buildmap | Elliot Barbour | McLaren 650S GT3 | 1:13.4583 | 0:00.6376 |
| 5 | Supabarn Supermarkets | James Koundouris (ACT) | Audi R8 LMS | 1:13.6109 | 0:00.7902 |
| 6 | DPO | Nathan Morcom | McLaren 650S GT3 | 1:13.6141 | 0:00.7934 |
| 7 | JAMEC PEM Racing | Tony Bates | Audi R8 LMS | 1:13.6478 | 0:00.8271 |
| 8 | JAMEC PEM Racing | Steve McLaughlan (Vic) | Audi R8 LMS | 1:13.8216 | 0:01.0009 |
| 9 | Objective Racing | Tony Walls (Qld) | McLaren 650S GT3 | 1:13.9349 | 0:01.1142 |
| 10 | Modena Engineering | Ricky Capo (Vic) | BMW Z4 GT3 | 1:14.0483 | 0:01.2276 |
| 11 | BMW Team SRM | Max Twigg (Vic) | BMW M6 GT3 | 1:14.2572 | 0:01.4365 |
| 12 | Hallmarc Developments | Marc Cini (Vic) | Audi R8 Ultra | 1:14.2602 | 0:01.4395 |
| 13 | Darrell Lea | Tony Quinn (Qld) | Aston Martin Vantage | 1:14.3725 | 0:01.5518 |
| 14 | Interlloy M Motorsport | Justin McMillan (VIC) | Lamborghini R-EX | 1:14.4246 | 0:01.6039 |
| 15 | GT Motorsport | Greg Taylor (NSW) | Audi R8 LMS | 1:14.7394 | 0:01.9187 |
| 16 | Scott Taylor Motorsport | Scott Taylor (Qld) | Mercedes Benz AMG GT | 1:14.8266 | 0:02.0059 |
| 17 | Bondi Wholefoods | Ash Samadi (Vic) | Audi R8 LMS | 1:14.8904 | 0:02.0697 |
| 18 | Fastway Couriers | Simon Ellinghham (NZ) | Audi R8 Ultra | 1:15.0014 | 0:02.1807 |
| 19 | Performance West Motorsport | Alexander Rullo (WA) | Lamborghini Gallardo | 1:15.3602 | 0:02.5395 |
| 20 | Hogs Breath Cafe/Griffith Corp | Mark Griffith (Qld) | Mercedes Benz AMG SLS | 1:15.3812 | 0:02.5605 |
| 21 | Walkinshaw GT3 | Neale Muston | Porsche 911 GT3-R | 1:16.1638 | 0:03.3431 |
| 22 | AMAC Motorsport | Andrew Macpherson (NSW) | Porsche 997 GT3-R | 1:17.1444 | 0:04.3237 |
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