Jamie Whincup snatched the Armor All pole position for Race 4 following last gasp effort in a wet qualifying session at Symmons Plains.
Prolonged heavy rain at the 2.4km circuit delayed qualifying by 20 minutes as officials assessed the condition of the track.
It proved to be another incident-filled session once action got underway with Triple Eight and DJR Team Penske going head-to-head in the closing stages.
Whincup saved his best until the final moments as he secured his 74th career pole from the Shell Ford of Scott McLaughlin with a 58.39s effort.
McLaughlin, who ran off the road at Turn 6 earlier in the session, had held provisional pole as the chequered flag flew, but had to settle for second.
“It’s crazy conditions. I just pushed hard, on the limit under brakes everywhere,” said Whincup.
“It’s critical to be up the front, obviously pole’s fantastic but to be in the top five is critical.”
Prodrive Racing Australia’s Chaz Mostert secured third on the grid ahead of Brad Jones Racing’s Tim Slade in the repaired #14 Commodore.
Reigning champion Shane van Gisbergen could only manage fifth in the sister Red Bull Holden with the second DJRTP Ford of Fabian Coulthard sixth.
The top 10 was completed by Todd Kelly (Nissan), Craig Lowndes (Triple Eight), David Reynolds (Erebus Motorsport) and Cameron Waters (Prodrive).
Mark Winterbottom could only manage 12th position in his #5 Prodrive Falcon.
Several cars ran off the road during the session including Lowndes and Dale Wood. The pair both enjoyed spells at the top of the timesheets.
The session was red flagged after five minutes when Alex Rullo found himself beached in the Turn 6 gravel trap in his rebuilt Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport Commodore.
Only 22 cars took part in the session following the withdrawals of James Courtney (Mobil 1 HSV Racing), Taz Douglas (Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport), Will Davison (Tekno Autosports) and Rick Kelly (Nissan).
Race 4 (84 laps) is due to begin at 1405 local time.
Result: Virgin Australia Supercars Championship Tyrepower Tasmania Race 4 Qualifying
| 1 | Red Bull Holden Racing Aust | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 0:58.3971*W | |
| 2 | Shell V-Power Racing Team | Scott McLaughlin | Ford Falcon FG/X | 0:58.6678 W | 00.2707 |
| 3 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG/X | 0:58.7079 W | 00.3108 |
| 4 | Freightliner Racing | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 0:58.8794 W | 00.4823 |
| 5 | Red Bull Holden Racing Aust | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 0:58.9093 W | 00.5122 |
| 6 | Shell V-Power Racing Team | Fabian Coulthard | Ford Falcon FG/X | 0:59.1030 W | 00.7059 |
| 7 | carsales Racing | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 0:59.1156 W | 00.7185 |
| 8 | TeamVortex | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 0:59.1516 W | 00.7545 |
| 9 | Erebus Penrite Racing | David Reynolds | Holden Commodore VF | 0:59.1881 W | 00.7910 |
| 10 | Monster Energy Racing | Cameron Waters | Ford Falcon FG/X | 0:59.1974 W | 00.8003 |
| 11 | Preston Hire Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VF | 0:59.2207 W | 00.8236 |
| 12 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG/X | 0:59.2281 W | 00.8310 |
| 13 | Nissan Motorsport | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 0:59.2682 W | 00.8711 |
| 14 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 0:59.4243 W | 01.0272 |
| 15 | Mobil 1 HSV Racing | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore VF | 0:59.4861 W | 01.0890 |
| 16 | BIANTE 1:1 | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | 0:59.5786 W | 01.1815 |
| 17 | MEGA Racing | Jason Bright | Ford Falcon FG/X | 0:59.6093 W | 01.2122 |
| 18 | Erebus GB Galvanizing Racing | Dale Wood | Holden Commodore VF | 0:59.6364 W | 01.2393 |
| 19 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | James Moffat | Holden Commodore VF | 0:59.7258 W | 01.3287 |
| 20 | Team Harvey Norman | Simona De Silvestro | Nissan Altima | 0:59.9941 W | 01.5970 |
| 21 | Team CoolDrive | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VF | 1:00.2586 W | 01.8615 |
| 22 | Repair Management Aust Racing | Alex Rullo | Holden Commodore VF |
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