Reynolds leads Erebus one-three in Darwin Race 15 qualifying

David Reynolds has sizzled to Armor All pole and Erebus team-mate Anton De Pasquale qualified third for Race 15 of the Supercars season at the CrownBet Darwin Triple Crown.

Reynolds upset the practice form book somewhat by edging Scott McLaughlin by 0.0447s with a 1:05.8496s lap while Rick Kelly kept up his strong showing so far this weekend with fourth position.

As predicted after Friday proceedings, the fast running was front-loaded due to Armor All Qualifying following Carrera Cup’s own qualifying session.

Most if not all cars started the 15-minute hit-out on brand-new tyres and 23 of the 27 drivers set their personal bests on their first flyers.

Fabian Coulthard was first around Hidden Valley Raceway by virtue of Shell V-Power Racing’s pit lane position but dropped the #12 FGX Falcon in the dirt starting his first timed lap and sat only 16th by the time the rest of the field had got onto the board.

His team-mate McLaughlin achieved the first 1:05s lap of the weekend but Reynolds went even better.

The Erebus Motorsport driver didn’t bother attempting a second run while McLaughlin gave his up halfway through the lap and stepped out of Car #17 with nearly five minutes remaining.

Reynolds’ pole is his first for the team but fourth at Hidden Valley, making him the equal most prolific in the Top End.

“We know when the Michelin rubber is down you’ve got one lap to do it and then it’s kind of toast after that,” explained the 34-year-old.

“I threw everything at it and it stuck and my car was pretty good.

“Thanks to all the boys, they put in all the hard work last night, changed the set-up a bit.

“Even Anton is P3 which is a phenomenal job for him. As a team, we’re just super rapt.

“It means a lot to me (to beat McLaughlin to pole), usually he’s like the qualifying king.

“(I) can’t be any happier; I was actually crying a little bit in the car after that because we haven’t had a pole position with this team. This is unbelievable”

McLaughlin, meanwhile, was satisfied enough with a front row start.

“(I) just missed a little bit on my lap, a bit too safe just trying to get that lap in and paid the price,” conceded the New Zealander.

“Great result for all of us, Shell V-Power Racing, P2 and we’ll go from there.”

De Pasquale (#99 ZB Commodore) bettered his personal best Supercars qualification by five positions in his first visit to Hidden Valley, and Kelly (#15 Castrol Nissan Altima) backed up his Saturday pole of a year ago with a Row 2 start.

Row 3 is an all-Red Bull HRT affair with Shane van Gisbergen (#97 ZB Commodore) fifth and Jamie Whincup (#1 ZB Commodore) sixth.

Andre Heimgartner (#7 Plus Fitness Racing Altima) and Michael Caruso (#23 Drive Altima) made for three Nissan Motorsport entries in the top 10 with seventh and ninth, respectively.

Scott Pye (#2 Boost Mobile ZB Commodore) was eighth and Will Davison (#230 Milwaukee FGX Falcon) 10th.

Craig Lowndes (#888 Autobarn ZB Commodore) qualified 12th and will start alongside Tim Slade (#14 Freightliner ZB Commodore).

Coulthard edged forward to 14th in his second run, putting himself next to former team-mate Garth Tander (#33 Wilson Security ZB Commodore) on the grid.

The Tickford Falcons qualified 16th, 17th, 18th, and 22nd, Mark Winterbottom their fastest in the #5 Bottle-O FGX.

James Courtney (#25 WAU ZB Commodore) was last after the first fliers and twice improved but still only managed 23rd, one position higher than Simona de Silvestro (#78 Harvey Norman Nissan Altima).

Macauley Jones did start the session despite his Practice 3 crash and qualified the #4 DrillPro ZB Commodore 25th.

Race 15 of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship (42 laps) starts at 1615 local time/1645 AEST.

Results: CrownBet Darwin Triple Crown Supercars Race 15 Qualifying