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Shane van Gisbergen and Anton De Pasquale have shared the spoils in qualifying for the BP Supercars All Stars Eseries double-header in North America.
A 1:19.590 took van Gisbergen to top spot at Watkins Glen International while a 1:48.387 by De Pasquale netted him top spot at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
In both qualifying sessions, Scott McLaughlin was third fastest for the Shell V-Power Racing Team.
Qualifying Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (Race 11)
McLaughlin was first out on track to set a time. He set a 1:34.388 initially, but that was immediately bettered by van Gisbergen and subsequently Penrite Racing driver Anton De Pasquale.
After the first round of times it was De Pasquale who led van Gisbergen, Chaz Mostert, Will Davison, Cameron Waters, Jamie Whincup, Nick Percat, Todd Hazelwood, and David Reynolds.
De Pasquale’s 1:33.792 put him 0.375s clear of van Gisbergen and nearly six tenths clear of McLaughlin.
Garry Jacobson was the only mover as the session hit halfway. He shot to seventh but was quickly displaced by Jamie Whincup.
With five minutes to go, van Gisbergen brought the gap down to 0.200s between he and De Pasquale.
McLaughlin, meanwhile, struggled to put a lap together. Having incurred incident points on consecutive laps the two-time Supercars champion had his lap invalidated.
He duly pitted with four minutes to go for new tyres and another crack at pole position.
A 1:33.928 by van Gisbergen brought the gap down to 0.136s with a minute and 15 seconds remaining.
A mistake by McLaughlin ended his hopes of grabbing pole position. He hit the wall and invalidated his last lap.
At the end of the session, it was De Pasquale who grabbed pole position ahead of van Gisbergen, McLaughlin, Mostert, Heimgartner, Davison, Jacobson, Waters, Jake Kostecki, and charger Scott Pye.
Qualifying Watkins Glen International (Race 13)
Shane van Gisbergen dominated qualifying at Watkins Glen International, never relinquishing the top spot after setting the pace early in the session.
Anton De Pasquale was second quickest and just 0.043s adrift of the Red Bull Holden Racing Team pilot.
Scott McLaughlin of the Shell V-Power Racing Team was third fastest. He pitted for tyres late in the session but ultimately couldn’t cross the line in time to set a new benchmark.
It was van Gisbergen who laid down the first marker with a 1:08.208 followed by McLaughlin who lay 0.159s away in second while De Pasquale was third and 0.2152 adrift.
Cameron Waters, Garry Jacobson, David Reynolds, Jake Kostecki, Jack Le Brocq, Andre Heimgartner and Fabian Coulthard completed the top 10 after the first run, all covered by seven tenths of a second.
Further afield, Eseries debutant Marcos Ambrose was 17th after his first competitive lap time and nine tenths away from the top spot.
Heimgartner shot to fourth as the session hit halfway and moments later and Bryce Fullwood shot up to sixth.
The times continued to shuffle, Chaz Mostert the next driver to shoot up the standings to fourth.
De Pasquale threatened the time of van Gisbergen, going 0.027s shy of the quickest time. However, a last-lap effort by the Kiwi extended his margin out to 0.043s on a 1:08.192.
Holdsworth shot to fourth with a 1:08.536 with a little over three minutes to go, a spot he would hold until the chequered flag.
With two and a half minutes to go McLaughlin came to the pit lane for a fresh set of tyres. However, he fell just a few second shy of making it to the start/finish line to set a lap.
Ultimately it was van Gisbergen who led De Pasquale, McLaughlin, Holdsworth and Waters. Sixth was late charger Fullwood ahead of Mostert, Kostecki, Heingartner and Nick Percat.
Angelo Mouzouris was the best of the wildcard entries in 16th with the next best being that of Ambrose in 19th. Joey Logano and Alexander Rossi sat 27th and 28th respectively.
Race 11 of the BP Supercars All Stars Eseries gets underway at 19:10 AEST.
