SVG, Whincup share Sunday Pukekohe poles

Shane van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup continued Red Bull’s stunning Pukekohe form with a pole position apiece ahead of today’s two 100km sprints.

The duo enter the races locked on points in the battle for the weekend’s Jason Richards Trophy after each scoring a win and a second yesterday.

Race 26 Qualifying

Van Gisbergen left it to the last possible moment to snatch his third Armor All Pole Award of the weekend.

The #97 Red Bull Holden had sat second behind Mark Winterbottom’s 1:03.3s benchmark after the first of two runs.

In a thrilling climax to the 10 minute session, Chaz Mostert, Rick Kelly, Fabian Coulthard and Scott Pye all briefly shot to the top of the order.

Pye was fastest when the chequered flag flew, but a last gasp 1:02.91s from Van Gisbergen denied Penske a front-row lock-out.

“To be on the front-row is great but it is so annoying that we missed pole,” said Pye, who missed out by just 0.0076s.

“Going onto the front straight I dropped wheel on the dirt and that probably cost us half a tenth.”

Winterbottom improved his time late to trail the Penske Falcons in fourth, knocking Whincup back to the third row.

Mostert ended up sixth ahead of Craig Lowndes, who struggled in qualifying yesterday, Scott McLaughlin, Will Davison and Michael Caruso.

Jason Bright meanwhile jagged 14th following extensive repairs to his Team BOC Holden overnight.

Race 27 Qualifying

Whincup turned the tables on Van Gisbergen in the second session, which proved considerably quicker than the first.

This time it was McLaughlin setting the early benchmark on 1:03.04s.

The final minutes saw Davison, Whincup and Winterbottom all take turns at the top before Whincup cemented pole with 1:02.69s.

“I didn’t quite nail the first one but (engineer David) Cauchi made a bit of a tune up and she was good for the second one,” said Whincup.

Van Gisbergen fell 0.02s short in second ahead of McLaughlin, Mostert, Winterbottom, Coulthard, Davison, Pye, Lowndes and James Moffat.

Like Pye after the opening session, McLaughlin admitted to mixed feelings at being so close to pole.

“I tried so hard so I’m gutted but third is awesome at the same time,” he said.

“I love this category and I hate it sometimes too. It is so good for the sport to be so close.”

Caruso was again the fastest of the Nissans, this time in 11th, while Bright paced the BJR trio for a second time and will start 19th.

Team-mate Tim Slade’s horror weekend continued with 20th and 25th in the respective sessions.

It was another lacklustre run for Holden Racing Team pair James Courtney and Garth Tander, who will start outside the top 10 for both races.’

Result: Virgin Australia Supercars Championship ITM Auckland Super Sprint Race 26 Qualifying

Result: Virgin Australia Supercars Championship ITM Auckland Super Sprint Race 27 Qualifying