Waters takes provisional pole, van Gisbergen tangles with Jones

Cameron Waters has qualified on provisional pole position for the Repco Bathurst 1000 in a session which finished with Macauley Jones in the wall after contact with Shane van Gisbergen.

Jones backed into the wall on the drop from The Esses into The Dipper after van Gisbergen showed the nose, with the latter gesticulating in his car in a fashion which suggested he felt he had been unduly held up.

Officials have announced that the incident, which occurred seconds before the chequered flag came out, is under investigation, placing a question mark on whether or not the #97 ZB Commodore will participate in the Top 10 Shootout despite being qualified fourth by the 2020 Great Race winner.

UPDATE: Grid penalty for Car #97

The other Red Bull Ampol Racing entry will definitely miss tomorrow afternoon’s one-lap dash after it failed to make the top 10 by four positions despite Jamie Whincup being handed the keys to the #88 car in which he is officially Broc Feeney’s co-driver.

Waters went as quick as a 2:23.6168s in Tickford Racing’s #6 Monster Energy Mustang while Lee Holdsworth was second-fastest at 0.2128s off the pace in the #10 Penrite Mustang.

The man with whom Holdsworth shared victory last year, Chaz Mostert (#25 Mobil 1 Optus ZB Commodore), took third, ahead of van Gisbergen and wildcard Richie Stanaway (#51 Boost Mobile ZB Commodore).

Rounding out the top 10 were Will Davison (#17 Shell V-Power Mustang), Nick Percat (#2 Mobil 1 NTI ZB Commodore), James Courtney (#5 Snowy River Caravans Mustang), Brodie Kostecki (#99 Boost Mobile ZB Commodore), and Will Brown (#9 Boost Mobile ZB Commodore).

The latter bumped Anton De Pasquale (#100 Shell V-Power Mustang) out of the top 10 in the final minutes, with just 0.0078s between them.

The 40-minute session had begun with a very wet track, but the rain having eased significantly if not stopped completely.

Mostert was fastest after the first flyers on a 2:29.2143s before Will Davison moved the marker to a 2:27.2283s on his second lap.

Waters took over top spot with a 2:26.1722s on his third lap and improved further to a 2:25.5095s on his fourth.

Mostert usurped him with a 2:25.2559s then pitted on his fifth lap, before Waters hit back with a 2:24.6876s on his sixth lap and then he too filed into the lane as tram tracks started to form and teams looked to re-pressure tyres.

With most having completed one run, Waters held sway from Mostert and Courtney on a 2:25.4831s, with Will Davison seventh on a 2:26.2013s, Whincup (#88 ZB Commodore) 15th on a 2:27.5151s and van Gisbergen 16th on a 2:27.5526s.

Andre Heimgartner (#8 R&J Batteries ZB Commodore) came back out and went second on a 2:25.0130s before van Gisbergen rose to the top on a 2:24.2246s.

Mostert re-took provisional pole on a 2:24.0984s in the 26th minute and went quicker again to a 2:23.8361s on his following lap, by which time Will Davison had moved up to third on a 2:24.4223s.

Waters climbed to third on a 2:24.2391s just before the half-hour mark, by which time the rain had started to fall in sprinkles again, and was first once more with a 2:23.6168s on his next lap.

Holdsworth was third when he set a 2:24.2058s in the 33rd minute and onto the provisional front row with a 2:23.8296s in the last three minutes.

In the final two minutes, Brown jumped from 18th to 10th in the car which had been repaired after his Practice 4 crash on a 2:25.0004s, pushing De Pasquale back to 11th.

Van Gisbergen improved his time but not his position when he then set a 2:24.0665s, but was fastest to the final sector on his final lap.

That was when he came up on Jones at The Esses and made contact with Brad Jones Racing’s #96 Wet & Forget ZB Commodore which caused it to rotate into the concrete on drivers’ left.

While the shootout is still to come, the rest of the grid is locked in with Heimgartner claiming 12th, James Golding (#31 Subway ZB Commodore) 13th, Whincup 14th, and wildcard Craig Lowndes (#888 Supercheap Auto ZB Commodore) 16th.

Practice 5, an hour-long session for co-drivers only, starts tomorrow morning at 10:20 local time/AEDT.

Results: Qualifying, Repco Bathurst 1000 All drivers