Jamie Whincup has rebounded from his horror qualifying results in Townsville to score pole for the opening race of the 2013 Coates Hire Ipswich 360.
The Red Bull Racing Australia driver scored his ninth pole of the season in one of the tightest qualifying sessions on record.
Typically, Whincup scored the maximum result with the minimum of fuss, completing a conservative banker lap early before sitting in the pits waiting to undertake a final single-lap run.
The four-time champion’s lap of 1:09.27s proved just 0.05s shy of the qualifying record set by team-mate Craig Lowndes in 2012.
Second placed Scott McLaughlin fell just 0.03s short of Whincup’s time to score his second consecutive front-row start.
Fabian Coulthard made it a Holden clean sweep of the top positions, while Mark Winterbottom, James Courtney, Craig Lowndes, David Reynolds, Shane van Gisbergen, Tim Slade and Will Davison completed the top 10.
Jason Bright sat second ahead of the final green tyre runs but fell to 11th by the flag, albeit just 0.2s shy of Whincup’s pole time.
Just 0.8s separated the entire 28 car field, which was rounded out by the Nissan of Michael Caruso.
Fellow Altima driver Todd Kelly had been as high as fourth after an early final green tyre lap and will start from 14th.
Race 22 will take place over two 60km legs this afternoon.
See below for the full qualifying result
| 1 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 01:09.27 | |
| 2 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Holden Commodore VF | 01:09.31 | 00:00.03 |
| 3 | Lockwood Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VF | 01:09.32 | 00:00.05 |
| 4 | Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 01:09.37 | 00:00.10 |
| 5 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 01:09.38 | 00:00.11 |
| 6 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 01:09.40 | 00:00.12 |
| 7 | The Bottle-O FPR Ford | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG | 01:09.40 | 00:00.13 |
| 8 | TEKNO Team VIP | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 01:09.43 | 00:00.16 |
| 9 | Heavy Haulage Australia Racing | Tim Slade | Mercedes E63 AMG | 01:09.45 | 00:00.17 |
| 10 | Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford | Will Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 01:09.47 | 00:00.20 |
| 11 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 01:09.47 | 00:00.20 |
| 12 | Jeld-wen FPR Ford | Alex Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 01:09.50 | 00:00.23 |
| 13 | Wilson Security Racing | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG | 01:09.53 | 00:00.26 |
| 14 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 01:09.55 | 00:00.28 |
| 15 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Alexandre Premat | Holden Commodore VF | 01:09.57 | 00:00.30 |
| 16 | Norton 360 Racing | James Moffat | Nissan Altima | 01:09.61 | 00:00.34 |
| 17 | Irwin Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Mercedes E63 AMG | 01:09.61 | 00:00.34 |
| 18 | SP Tools Racing | Maro Engel | Mercedes E63 AMG | 01:09.66 | 00:00.39 |
| 19 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 01:09.68 | 00:00.40 |
| 20 | Dodo Insurance Racing | Dean Fiore | Holden Commodore VF | 01:09.75 | 00:00.48 |
| 21 | Wilson Security Racing | David Wall | Holden Commodore VF | 01:09.75 | 00:00.48 |
| 22 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 01:09.79 | 00:00.51 |
| 23 | Tekno Autosports | Jonathon Webb | Holden Commodore VF | 01:09.84 | 00:00.57 |
| 24 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VF | 01:09.85 | 00:00.58 |
| 25 | Wilson Security Racing | Tim Blanchard | Ford Falcon FG | 01:10.04 | 00:00.77 |
| 26 | Team HIFLEX | Tony D’Alberto | Holden Commodore VF | 01:10.05 | 00:00.78 |
| 27 | ekol Racing | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore VF | 01:10.07 | 00:00.80 |
| 28 | Norton 360 Racing | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 01:10.08 | 00:00.81 |
