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Zak Best’s first Supercars Championship career pole came at OTR SuperSprint at The Bend in 2022 – and with a bucketload of controversy.
Best denied Shane van Gisbergen the top spot in Race 21 qualifying by 0.0223s in a year where the Kiwi would win the title with a record number of race wins in a season.
The 20-year-old drove a plain black Tickford wildcard entry – entered under Best Leisure Industries but without a main sponsor – after a run at Hidden Valley two rounds before, and a 15th at Bathurst 2021 co-driving with Jack Le Brocq.
His pole-setting 1:47.8168 shook the establishment. To say it was unexpected – especially to Best – is an understatement.
“I don’t really know what to say,” Best said after the session.
“I just did the best we could at it, had a big go into Turn 1 – we were losing a bit to Cam [Waters, team-mate] – and had a look.
“Just pieced it all together finally, and it was good enough for pole.”
Best – and fellow Wildcard competitor, Jordan Boys, who qualified 17th – had been given Dunlop soft rubber from a different batch. Having to provide additional tyres for the wildcard entries mean that stock had to be found.
The compound was identical across the field, but Best and Boys’ tyres were manufactured at a later date. It’s the production date that rivals pointed to as giving them faster rubber.
The idea of stripping Best and Tickford of pole – through no fault of their own – was not an option, but rivals were not happy at the advantage the tyres on Best’s Mustang seemingly provided.
The remedy post-qualifying was that each competitor would run a single soft tyre from the ‘wildcard batch’, and the wildcard duo would also run three tyres from those originally allocated to the non-wildcard entries.
It made for a unique tyre allocation.
Best started Race 21 from pole – almost jumping the start after several moves ahead of the green – as an ambitious Chaz Mostert, who started fourth, tried going down the outside but was shut out by a battling van Gisbergen and Waters.
That saw Best hold his nerve to lead into Turn 1 in the #78 Mustang.
Yet Best’s start was under investigation by the stewards.
As Waters had outmuscled van Gisbergen, Best now had his effective team leader on his tail, but the Benalla local appeared a seasoned veteran as the gap sat at 1.6s – the race declared ‘wet’ by officials on Lap 5.
Then came the news that officials would take no further action, deeming Best’s start above board.
Then came SVG’s charge – passing Waters into Turn 1 on Lap 7, then attacking Best with an open door after Best ran wide at Turn 6 two laps later. It wasn’t enough, but SVG would take the lead from the rookie on Lap 11.
Best’s Lap 13 compulsory pit stop saw him re-enter in 13th, straight from battling with SVG to an arm wrestle with Anton De Pasquale’s #11 Shell V-Power Mustang, with Best fending off De Pasquale.
IMAGES: Saturday at 2022 OTR SuperSprint at The Bend.
At the end of the 24-lap race, Best held on for fifth behind team-mate Waters, with van Gisbergen winning from Will Davison and Mostert, with van Gisbergen praising Best’s racecraft after their battle.
On the following day, Best qualified 16th for Race 22, ahead of Chris Pither and behind Brodie Kostecki – who leads the championship heading into this weekend’s round at The Bend.
Minutes later, though, and with the tyre anomaly sorted, he put the #78 Mustang back into the top 10 on the grid, in seventh position for Race 23.
For a moment, rookie Best duelled with the Supercars elite, and no one could take that pole position from him.
