Shane van Gisbergen will start his Supercars title defence from pole position following an impressive performance in the Armor All Top 10 Shootout in Adelaide.
The Red Bull Holden Racing Team driver once again showed his class in a one lap showdown to pip DJR Team Penske’s Fabian Coulthard to pole by 0.04s.
Van Gisbergen, who was last out in the session after topping Saturday’s qualifying session, produced an emphatic new lap record to stop the clocks at 1:19.57s and claim a 16th career pole.
“It was pretty awesome, I knew it was going to be pretty tight,” said van Gisbergen following the lap.
“The track was grippy and the car was awesome and has got better and better as the weekend has gone on.”
Coulthard looked set to take another Clipsal 500 pole having starred in qualifying last year, but was left to settle for second.
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Chaz Mostert will head up the second row in the Supercheap Auto Falcon alongside Mobil 1 HSV Racing’s James Courtney, who was the only other driver to lap inside the 1:19s bracket.
Mark Winterbottom set the pace early in the shootout but will start from fifth ahead of Scott McLaughlin, who made a costly mistake on his effort in the #17 DJR Team Penske Falcon.
Jamie Whincup (Red Bull Holden Racing Team), Rick Kelly (Nissan Motorsport), Cameron Waters (Prodrive) and David Reynolds (Erebus Motorsport) rounded out the top 10.
The opening 250km race of the season is scheduled to start at 1520.
Result: Virgin Australia Supercars Championship Armor All Top 10 Shootout, Clipsal 500
| 1 | Red Bull Holden Racing Aust | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 1:19.5723RS | |
| 2 | Shell V-Power Racing Team | Fabian Coulthard | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:19.6165rS | 00.0442 |
| 3 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:19.8687 S | 00.2964 |
| 4 | Mobil 1 HSV Racing | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 1:19.9932 S | 00.4209 |
| 5 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:20.0176 S | 00.4453 |
| 6 | Shell V-Power Racing Team | Scott McLaughlin | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:20.0574 S | 00.4851 |
| 7 | Red Bull Holden Racing Aust | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 1:20.1604 S | 00.5881 |
| 8 | Sengled Racing | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:20.3544 S | 00.7821 |
| 9 | Monster Energy Racing | Cameron Waters | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:20.3785 S | 00.8062 |
| 10 | Erebus Penrite Racing | David Reynolds | Holden Commodore VF | 1:20.4829 S | 00.9106 |
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