Tander tops dramatic Gold Coast qualifying

Three of the four key championship players will be spectators for today’s Top 10 Shootout after a dramatic qualifying session on the streets of Surfers Paradise.

Garth Tander put his Holden Racing Team Commodore on provisional pole by firing the final shot in the session.

Tander’s 1:10.16s lap moved the former champion from outside the Shootout field to the top spot, edging Craig Lowndes by 0.14s.

James Courtney had set the pace for much of the going, but even improving his early best by 0.3s on his final attempt was not enough to stave off Lowndes and eventually Tander.

Shane van Gisbergen, Fabian Coulthard, Rick Kelly, Tony D’Alberto, Michael Caruso, Scott McLaughlin and David Reynolds complete the Shootout field.

Lowndes’ position is currently provisional however after tagging Will Davison into a spin early in the 30 minute hit-out.

The Turn 12 incident saw Davison’s Falcon make rear-on contact with the tyre wall, sending the defending GC600 winner to pitlane for repairs.

The Ford Performance Racing team were also forced to fix steering damage to Mark Winterbottom’s entry after the Bathurst winner tagged the Turn 1 tyre bundle.

Winterbottom returned to the track for the final 10 minutes, very briefly making it into the top 10 before being shunted back to 14th.

Davison, meanwhile, ended up 21st, four places ahead of points leader Jamie Whincup.

The Red Bull driver caused the session’s only red flag when contact with the Turn 3 exit fence dropped debris on the circuit.

As a punishment, Whincup had his fastest time removed and was excluded from taking part in the remaining 12 minutes.

“It’s a big penalty for a small error but that’s the game we’re in,” he shrugged after initial confusion over the penalty.

He added of the incident: “I just made a little error at Turn 1. I only ran a bit wide by a couple of inches, but it was enough to hit the tyres and rip the door skin off, causing the red flag.”

Several others made lighter contact with the walls during the session, including Lee Holdsworth, who was left with a flapping left-front door on his IRWIN Mercedes.

James Moffat was also in the wars, dragging his Nissan down the Turn 13 exit fence mid-session before recovering to end up 11th.

There was late drama too at Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport as Dean Fiore tipped team-mate Scott Pye into a low-speed spin at Turn 4.

The Top 10 Shootout will get underway at 1145 local time.

See below for the full Race 30 qualifying result