Shane van Gisbergen proved the fastest man in a frantic Gold Coast qualifying session that set the field for the Top 10 Shootout later this morning.
The Tekno Holden proved the class of the field on both green tyre runs during the 20 minutes, improving an initial 1:11.35s to 1:11.09s on his second set.
“Thanks to Geoff (Slater, engineer) because the car was mega the whole session,” said Van Gisbergen. “Hopefully we can do it again in the Shootout.”
Van Gisbergen proved just 0.01s quicker than Jamie Whincup, whose Red Bull team scrambled to fix minor steering damage caused by a heavy clout of the kerbing on his first lap.
Rick Kelly sprung the biggest surprise among the late flurry of fast times, shooting to third ahead of Scott McLaughlin, Tim Slade and Mark Winterbottom.
James Moffat backed up his Friday pace with seventh, while Garth Tander, Craig Lowndes and David Reynolds complete the Shootout field.
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Lowndes sat just 16th after the first runs and, spearing down the Turn 11 escape road on his next flyer, looked to be out of business as the chequered flag flew.
The 41-year-old then miraculously squeezed into the top 10 with his very final attempt, bumping an otherwise impressive Nick Percat to 11th.
Others to miss out included James Courtney, who was fourth after the first runs but ended up 13th.
All three Brad Jones Racing Commodores were also down the order, while Cameron Waters’ first session as a primary driver for Prodrive saw him 19th.
The Shootout will get underway at 1120 local time.
Result: V8 Supercars Qualifying, Surfers Paradise
| 1 | Team Darrell Lea STIX | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 1:11.0913*H | |
| 2 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 1:11.1046 H | 00.0133 |
| 3 | Nissan Motorsport | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:11.1416 H | 00.0503 |
| 4 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Volvo S60 | 1:11.1439 H | 00.0526 |
| 5 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 1:11.3031 H | 00.2118 |
| 6 | Pepsi Max Crew | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:11.3625 H | 00.2712 |
| 7 | Nissan Motorsport | James Moffat | Nissan Altima | 1:11.4024 H | 00.3111 |
| 8 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 1:11.4407 H | 00.3494 |
| 9 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 1:11.4646 H | 00.3733 |
| 10 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:11.4760 H | 00.3847 |
| 11 | Repair Management Aust Racing | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | 1:11.5206 H | 00.4293 |
| 12 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 1:11.5252 H | 00.4339 |
| 13 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 1:11.5684 H | 00.4771 |
| 14 | Freightliner Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VF | 1:11.6169 H | 00.5256 |
| 15 | DJR Team Penske | Scott Pye | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:11.6595 H | 00.5682 |
| 16 | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Will Davison | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:11.7775 H | 00.6862 |
| 17 | Walkinshaw Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VF | 1:11.8277 H | 00.7364 |
| 18 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | David Wall | Volvo S60 | 1:11.8389 H | 00.7476 |
| 19 | Pepsi Max Crew | Cameron Waters | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:11.8447 H | 00.7534 |
| 20 | Team Cooldrive | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VF | 1:11.9623 H | 00.8710 |
| 21 | Nissan Motorsport | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:11.9624 H | 00.8711 |
| 22 | Nissan Motorsport | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 1:12.0617 H | 00.9704 |
| 23 | GB Galvanizing Racing | Dale Wood | Holden Commodore VF | 1:12.1364 H | 01.0451 |
| 24 | Super Black Racing | Andre Heimgartner | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:12.1609 H | 01.0696 |
| 25 | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Ashley Walsh | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:12.3206 H | 01.2293 |
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