James Golding reset the lap record with a 1:27.9510 in the #7 CoolDrive Ford Mustang, leading his teammate Aaron Cameron by just 0.0602s
It’s the perfect start to Golding’s relationship with the Blanchard Racing Team, fresh off joining from PremiAir Racing.
It’s the first pole position for the Blanchard family and the second pole position in Golding’s Supercars career.
“Honestly, I’ve got no words. Absolutely incredible job by the whole team,” said Golding, who was the only driver in the 1m27s bracket.
“Obviously I get the joy to finish it off but it goes down to all their hard work.
“I just want to thank everyone who has supported me along the way. I’ve had a few ups and downs and this is just the beginning of something solid. I can’t wait.
“It comes down to every individual in the team. You know what it’s like, it’s not just up to the driver or one engineer. It’s a team effort, now we’ve got to focus on executing the race.
“Qualifying is one thing, it’s a great start.”
Qualifying was split into two 12-minute segments, with the top 10 drivers from Q1 advancing to Q2.
Matt Payne and Broc Feeney made it an all-Ford first two rows.
Team 18 start its spell as the General Motors homologation team strong as the top Chevrolet team. Anton De Pasquale was fifth in the #18 Camaro.
The top 10 was completed by Zach Bates (Matt Stone Racing), Cameron Waters (Tickford Racing), Will Brown (Triple Eight Race Engineering), Thomas Randle (Tickford Racing), and the first of the Toyotas in Andre Heimgartner (Brad Jones Racing).
Dick Johnson Racing’s Brodie Kostecki was the first driver on the outside of the top 10.
“We’re just really bad through microsector one and two – just Turn 1 and Turn 2,” Kostecki explained.
“The rest of the lap is pretty good. Probably just missed the [tyre] pressure window a little bit and we’ll probably tune that up for tomorrow.
“I would say that Shell V-Power Racing Ford Mustang wasn’t too bad. Probably just missed a bit of tyre pressure there. We’ll go through it and see what we can do tomorrow.”
Noteworthy omissions from the top 10 included the Walkinshaw TWG Racing duo of Chaz Mostert in 20th and Ryan Wood in 15th.
Race 1 of the season starts at 7:50pm AEDT.
Results: Repco Supercars Championship Dunlop Sydney 500, Q2
| Pos | Num | Driver | Team | Car | Lap | Diff | Gap |
| 1 | 7 | James Golding | Blanchard Racing Team | Ford Mustang GT | 1:27.9510 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Aaron Cameron | Blanchard Racing Team | Ford Mustang GT | 1:28.0112 | 0.0602 | 0.0602 |
| 3 | 19 | Matthew Payne | Grove Racing | Ford Mustang GT | 1:28.1119 | 0.1609 | 0.1007 |
| 4 | 88 | Broc Feeney | Triple Eight Race Engineering | Ford Mustang GT | 1:28.2173 | 0.2663 | 0.1054 |
| 5 | 18 | Anton De Pasquale | Team 18 | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 1:28.2262 | 0.2752 | 0.0089 |
| 6 | 10 | Zach Bates | Matt Stone Racing | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 1:28.3108 | 0.3598 | 0.0846 |
| 7 | 6 | Cameron Waters | Tickford Racing | Ford Mustang GT | 1:28.3260 | 0.375 | 0.0152 |
| 8 | 888 | William Brown | Triple Eight Race Engineering | Ford Mustang GT | 1:28.5632 | 0.6122 | 0.2372 |
| 9 | 55 | Thomas Randle | Tickford Racing | Ford Mustang GT | 1:28.5820 | 0.631 | 0.0188 |
| 10 | 8 | Andre Heimgartner | Brad Jones Racing | Toyota GR Supra A90 | 1:29.1266 | 1.1756 | 0.5446 |
Results: Repco Supercars Championship Dunlop Sydney 500, Q1
| Pos | Num | Driver | Team | Car | Lap | Diff | Gap |
| 1 | 19 | Matthew Payne | Grove Racing | Ford Mustang GT | 1:28.1083 | ||
| 2 | 7 | James Golding | Blanchard Racing Team | Ford Mustang GT | 1:28.1665 | 0.0582 | 0.0582 |
| 3 | 888 | William Brown | Triple Eight Race Engineering | Ford Mustang GT | 1:28.2460 | 0.1377 | 0.0795 |
| 4 | 3 | Aaron Cameron | Blanchard Racing Team | Ford Mustang GT | 1:28.2811 | 0.1728 | 0.0351 |
| 5 | 88 | Broc Feeney | Triple Eight Race Engineering | Ford Mustang GT | 1:28.2951 | 0.1868 | 0.014 |
| 6 | 6 | Cameron Waters | TIckford Racing | Ford Mustang GT | 1:28.4750 | 0.3667 | 0.1799 |
| 7 | 10 | Zach Bates | Matt Stone Racing | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 1:28.4969 | 0.3886 | 0.0219 |
| 8 | 8 | Andre Heimgartner | Brad Jones Racing | Toyota GR Supra A90 | 1:28.5149 | 0.4066 | 0.018 |
| 9 | 18 | Anton De Pasquale | Team 18 | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 1:28.5308 | 0.4225 | 0.0159 |
| 10 | 55 | Thomas Randle | Tickford Racing | Ford Mustang GT | 1:28.5750 | 0.4667 | 0.0442 |
| 11 | 17 | Brodie Kostecki | Dick Johnson Racing | Ford Mustang GT | 1:28.5758 | 0.4675 | 0.0008 |
| 12 | 20 | David Reynolds | Team 18 | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 1:28.5990 | 0.4907 | 0.0232 |
| 13 | 31 | Jayden Ojeda | PremiAir Racing | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 1:28.5991 | 0.4908 | 0.0001 |
| 14 | 11 | Jackson Walls | Triple Eight Race Engineering | Ford Mustang GT | 1:28.6111 | 0.5028 | 0.012 |
| 15 | 2 | Ryan Wood | Walkinshaw TWG Racing | Toyota GR Supra A90 | 1:28.6817 | 0.5734 | 0.0706 |
| 16 | 99 | Cooper Murray | Erebus Motorsport | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 1:28.7435 | 0.6352 | 0.0618 |
| 17 | 26 | Kai Allen | Grove Racing | Ford Mustang GT | 1:28.8005 | 0.6922 | 0.057 |
| 18 | 38 | Rylan Gray | Dick Johnson Racing | Ford Mustang GT | 1:28.8315 | 0.7232 | 0.031 |
| 19 | 14 | Cameron Hill | Brad Jones Racing | Toyota GR Supra A90 | 1:28.9394 | 0.8311 | 0.1079 |
| 20 | 1 | Chaz Mostert | Walkinshaw TWG Racing | Toyota GR Supra A90 | 1:28.9431 | 0.8348 | 0.0037 |
| 21 | 4 | Jack Le Brocq | Matt Stone Racing | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 1:29.0041 | 0.8958 | 0.061 |
| 22 | 9 | Jobe Stewart | Erebus Motorsport | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 1:29.1235 | 1.0152 | 0.1194 |
| 23 | 777 | Declan Fraser | PremiAir Racing | Chev Camaro ZL1 | 1:29.1545 | 1.0462 | 0.031 |
| 24 | 96 | Macauley Jones | Brad Jones Racing | Toyota GR Supra A90 | 1:29.2842 | 1.1759 | 0.1297 |
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