New Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen continued his charge in Race 29 qualifying at the Coates Hire Sydney 500.
The Red Bull ace topped the morning’s 20 minute qualifying session ahead of the Top 10 Shootout that will set the starting order for the afternoon’s 250km race.
Jamie Whincup had led the way ahead of the final green tyre runs with 1:27.09s, but elected against doing another run in order to save a set for the afternoon.
Van Gisbergen went 0.14s quicker than his team-mate while David Reynolds managed to split the Red Bulls by also improving in the dying stages.
The Shootout will decide the Armor All Pole Champion Award for the season, which currently sits with seven poles for Van Gisbergen and six for Whincup.
“We just tried a different strategy to save a set of tyres for the race,” explained Whincup.
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“Third last out for the Shootout shouldn’t be too much difference (to last out). It should all be pretty even.”
James Courtney, Scott McLaughlin, Michael Caruso, Tim Slade, Garth Tander, Nick Percat and Todd Kelly complete the Shootout field.
Mark Winterbottom was the top Ford down in 13th, while Craig Lowndes was another place further back in what is a blow to his hopes of wrestling third in points back from Scott McLaughlin.
The Top 10 Shootout will get underway at 1305 local time.
Result: Virgin Australia Supercars Championship Coates Hire Sydney 500 Race 29 Qualifying
| 1 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 1:26.95 | |
| 2 | Erebus Motorsport Penrite | David Reynolds | Holden Commodore VF | 1:26.98 | 00.0310 |
| 3 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 1:27.09 | 00.1424 |
| 4 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 1:27.18 | 00.2310 |
| 5 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Volvo S60 | 1:27.21 | 00.2633 |
| 6 | Nissan Motorsport | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 1:27.23 | 00.2842 |
| 7 | Freightliner Racing | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 1:27.25 | 00.3025 |
| 8 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 1:27.25 | 00.3038 |
| 9 | Repair Management Aust Racing | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | 1:27.31 | 00.3583 |
| 10 | carsales Racing | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:27.34 | 00.3899 |
| 11 | Team Darrell Lea STIX | Will Davison | Holden Commodore VF | 1:27.34 | 00.3920 |
| 12 | Sengled Motorsport | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:27.41 | 00.4667 |
| 13 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:27.41 | 00.4676 |
| 14 | TeamVortex | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 1:27.55 | 00.6076 |
| 15 | Monster Energy Racing | Cameron Waters | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:27.57 | 00.6239 |
| 16 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 1:27.58 | 00.6342 |
| 17 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | James Moffat | Volvo S60 | 1:27.64 | 00.6916 |
| 18 | DJR Team Penske | Fabian Coulthard | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:27.65 | 00.6992 |
| 19 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:27.67 | 00.7199 |
| 20 | DJR Team Penske | Scott Pye | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:27.89 | 00.9448 |
| 21 | Team Cooldrive | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VF | 1:27.96 | 01.0093 |
| 22 | Preston Hire Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.07 | 01.1250 |
| 23 | GB Galvanizing Racing | Dale Wood | Nissan Altima | 1:28.16 | 01.2122 |
| 24 | Erebus Motorsport | Shae Davies | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.26 | 01.3138 |
| 25 | Plus Fitness Racing | Andre Heimgartner | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.32 | 01.3719 |
| 26 | Super Black Racing | Chris Pither | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:28.36 | 01.4115 |
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