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Jamie Whincup has been left lamenting a poor qualifying performance while championship combatant Scott McLaughlin scored yet another pole position in Tailem Bend.
The Red Bull Holden Racing Team driver was unable to improve on his provisional third place in the second part of Qualifying for Race 28, qualifying only 14th in the Top 15 Shootout.
Whincup said cold temperatures at The Bend Motorsport Park played a part in not getting his tyres hot enough for his flying lap.
“We just didn’t have the grip where we needed it,” said Whincup.
“It was a combination of things. But (14th), we’re not happy with that at all.
“It’s so cold here, so cold. We’re a week later but it feels like two months earlier, really cold.
“We got the tyres up to temp in qualifying, we just couldn’t do it for the shootout.
“Unfortunately we’ve made our bed, and it’s not too good. You can’t win the race from (14th).
“But we’ll try to keep our heads up and try to do the best job we can, and hopefully pick a few spots off. But from (14th), we’re pretty shot.”
Team-mate Shane van Gisbergen was third fastest in the session, over four tenths faster than Whincup.
Race 28 of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship gets underway at 15:40 local time/16:10 AEST.
