Shane van Gisbergen will start the V8 Supercars season finale from pole position after pipping Jason Bright in a typically tight qualifying session.
The two privateer Holden teams, Tekno Autosports and Brad Jones Racing, upstaged heavyweights Red Bull and Ford Performance Racing in the dying moments of the 20 minute hit-out.
Van Gisbergen was fastest of all on his first set of green tyres, but dropped to third behind Bright and Jamie Whincup by the time the chequered flag flew.
Despite coming across a slow Scott Pye between Turns 10 and 11, the Kiwi shot to the top of the order with his final 1:27.9956s effort.
It had been a mixed session for Whincup, who made several miscues on his way to third. He later reported light steering damage from contact with the walls.
Mark Winterbottom and Will Davison completed the top five ahead of Scott McLaughlin, Jonathon Webb, Tony D’Alberto, Craig Lowndes and Alex Davison.
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Lowndes had made mistakes on both attempts with his second set of tyres, having been second to Van Gisbergen after the first greens had been cycled through.
Saturday front-runner Fabian Coulthard could manage jut 13th, sharing the seventh row with Garth Tander, who was out-qualified by team-mate Nick Percat.
Scott Pye missed much of the session with mechanical troubles in his Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport Holden and will start last.
See below for full qualifying results for Race 36
| 1 | TEKNO Team VIP Petfoods | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 1:27.9956* | |
| 2 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.0571 | 0:00.0615 |
| 3 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.1718 | 0:00.1762 |
| 4 | Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 1:28.2942 | 0:00.2986 |
| 5 | Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford | Will Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 1:28.3992 | 0:00.4036 |
| 6 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.4298 | 0:00.4342 |
| 7 | TEKNO Team Darrell Lea | Jonathon Webb | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.4751 | 0:00.4795 |
| 8 | Team HIFLEX | Tony D’Alberto | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.5604 | 0:00.5648 |
| 9 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.5704 | 0:00.5748 |
| 10 | Jeld-wen FPR Ford | Alex Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 1:28.6121 | 0:00.6165 |
| 11 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Alexandre Premat | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.6515 | 0:00.6559 |
| 12 | Holden Racing Team | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.7501 | 0:00.7545 |
| 13 | Lockwood Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.7864 | 0:00.7908 |
| 14 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.7876 | 0:00.7920 |
| 15 | Norton Hornets | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 1:28.8309 | 0:00.8353 |
| 16 | Wilson Security Racing | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG | 1:28.9033 | 0:00.9077 |
| 17 | The Bottle-O FPR Ford | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG | 1:28.9141 | 0:00.9185 |
| 18 | Wilson Security Racing | David Wall | Holden Commodore VF | 1:28.9527 | 0:00.9571 |
| 19 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:28.9887 | 0:00.9931 |
| 20 | Heavy Haulage Australia Racing | Tim Slade | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:29.0088 | 0:01.0132 |
| 21 | Irwin Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:29.0839 | 0:01.0883 |
| 22 | Wilson Security Racing | Tim Blanchard | Ford Falcon FG | 1:29.2088 | 0:01.2132 |
| 23 | Norton Hornets | James Moffat | Nissan Altima | 1:29.3260 | 0:01.3304 |
| 24 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VF | 1:29.3953 | 0:01.3997 |
| 25 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:29.4094 | 0:01.4138 |
| 26 | Dodo Insurance Racing | Dean Fiore | Holden Commodore VF | 1:29.6859 | 0:01.6903 |
| 27 | SP Tools Racing | Maro Engel | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:30.0765 | 0:02.0809 |
| 28 | ekol Racing | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore VF | 1:30.9833 | 0:02.9877 |
