The #78 Anderson Motorsport Ford Mustang driver secured top spot with a 1:01.0640s ahead of Brad Vaughan in the #80 Brad Jones Racing Holden ZB Commodore.

It’s a big bounce-back for Best, who has spent two years out of full-time racing. Best finished runner-up in the Super2 Series in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Best had to contend with a last-minute adjustment when it was decided that the Super2 Series would not qualify on the ‘Gardner’ configuration and instead use the shorter ‘Druitt’ layout.

That was one of several challenges for the Benalla-born driver, including some communication hurdles with his engineer French Ludo Lacroix.

“Obviously it was pretty difficult, and there’s not a lot of rubber down, so it was quite slippery,” said Best.

“I had a lot going on in the car, A few things weren’t working.

“I didn’t really know what lap I actually did or what I was doing out there.

“Bit of a language barrier with Ludo [Lacroix] still. Still a few teething issues we’re working on.

“It’s just cool to be on the front row for the first race of the year.”

Ryan Tomsett was impressive in third in the other Anderson Motorsport entry ahead of Tickford Racing’s Ben Gommersall and Blanchard Racing Team’s Lochie Dalton.

Matt Chahda and Alice Buckley are facing a post-session investigation for a potential pit lane speeding violation.

Which layout the V8 feeder category races on is yet to be determined.

The first Dunlop Super2 Series race of the season is slated for 6:10pm AEDT on Saturday.

Results: Dunlop Super2 Series Dunlop Sydney 500, Qualifying