Jamie Whincup and David Reynolds took an Armor All Pole Award apiece ahead of today’s sprint races at the ITM 500 Auckland.
Whincup edged Reynolds to pole in the first session on the hard tyres before the Ford driver turned the tables when the softs came out for the second hit-out.
Qualifying Race 28
Whincup scored pole for Race 28 despite an off track excursion at Turn 4 in the dying stages.
The Red Bull driver recorded a 1:03.32s best on his opening set before falling 0.07s short of that benchmark on the first lap of his second run.
Spearing off at Turn 4 on the next lap, Whincup was able to reverse out of the grass without triggering a red flag, ensuring his fastest time stood.
A late lap from Reynolds put The Bottle-O Ford second, just 0.0045s adrift.
Scott Pye recovered from an off of his own at Turn 4 to jump to third after the chequered flag, demoting Shane van Gisbergen to fourth.
Scott McLaughlin fell short of his practice form in fifth, while title rivals Craig Lowndes and Mark Winterbottom will start sixth and seventh respectively.
Michael Caruso and James Moffat put their Nissans in the top 10 with eighth and 10th, sandwiching the lead Walkinshaw Holden of James Courtney.
Cameron Waters and Ash Walsh will start 14th and 24th respectively after contact between the pair at the Turn 5-6 chicane in the closing stages.
The right-front of the Mercedes clipped the left-rear of the Ford as Waters dived to the inside. Walsh’s car was out on the spot, while Waters retreated to pitlane.
Qualifying Race 29
The second session saw the soft tyres used at Pukekohe for the first time and, with just a single set per car, it took until two minutes remained for the first real flying laps to start.
Tim Slade was first on track with the soft rubber and immediately went 0.6s quicker than Whincup’s Race 28 pole time.
The Supercheap Holden eventually fell to seventh however as Whincup, Lowndes and then Reynolds all shot to P1.
Reynolds’ 1:02.47s pipped Lowndes by 0.02s, while McLaughlin was one of few to improve on his second lap, jumping from sixth to third.
Whincup will share the second row with McLaughlin, with Courtney and Winterbottom behind.
Waters snagged 10th after an impressive effort from the Prodrive crew to fix rear suspension damage sustained in the earlier session.
Walsh was unable to take the circuit and will start last.
Those to endure a tough second session included Nissan, whose highest placed driver, Rick Kelly, will start 15th, and Shane van Gisbergen, who managed just 13th.
“It was just a bit of a lucky dip that session as we have never run the soft tyre here before,” explained Reynolds.
“It is a lot of hard work out there, it is not easy especially not knowing the grip level on the first lap, but luckily my car was handling well.”
Result: V8 Supercars ITM 500 Auckland Race 28 Qualifying
1 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.3203*H | |
2 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:03.3248 H | 00.0045 |
3 | DJR Team Penske | Scott Pye | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:03.4053 H | 00.0850 |
4 | Team Darrell Lea STIX | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.4528 H | 00.1325 |
5 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Volvo S60 | 1:03.4772 H | 00.1569 |
6 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.5682 H | 00.2479 |
7 | Pepsi Max Crew | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:03.5874 H | 00.2671 |
8 | Nissan Motorsport | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 1:03.6541 H | 00.3338 |
9 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.6552 H | 00.3349 |
10 | Nissan Motorsport | James Moffat | Nissan Altima | 1:03.7285 H | 00.4082 |
11 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.7300 H | 00.4097 |
12 | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Will Davison | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:03.7339 H | 00.4136 |
13 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.7349 H | 00.4146 |
14 | Pepsi Max Crew | Cameron Waters | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:03.7518 H | 00.4315 |
15 | Freightliner Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.7639 H | 00.4436 |
16 | Walkinshaw Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.7979 H | 00.4776 |
17 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.8452 H | 00.5249 |
18 | GB Galvanizing Racing | Dale Wood | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.8962 H | 00.5759 |
19 | Nissan Motorsport | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:03.9610 H | 00.6407 |
20 | Nissan Motorsport | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:04.0202 H | 00.6999 |
21 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | David Wall | Volvo S60 | 1:04.1423 H | 00.8220 |
22 | Team Cooldrive | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VF | 1:04.2212 H | 00.9009 |
23 | Super Black Racing | Andre Heimgartner | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:04.4514 H | 01.1311 |
24 | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Ashley Walsh | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:04.5406 H | 01.2203 |
25 | Repair Management Aust Racing | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | 1:05.7711 H | 02.4508 |
Result: V8 Supercars ITM 500 Auckland Race 29 Qualifying
1 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:02.4690RS | |
2 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 1:02.4918rS | 00.0228 |
3 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Volvo S60 | 1:02.5714 S | 00.1024 |
4 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 1:02.5910 S | 00.1220 |
5 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 1:02.6672 S | 00.1982 |
6 | Pepsi Max Crew | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:02.7002 S | 00.2312 |
7 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 1:02.7703 S | 00.3013 |
8 | DJR Team Penske | Scott Pye | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:02.8396 S | 00.3706 |
9 | Freightliner Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VF | 1:02.8535 S | 00.3845 |
10 | Pepsi Max Crew | Cameron Waters | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:02.8731 S | 00.4041 |
11 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 1:02.8849 S | 00.4159 |
12 | Super Black Racing | Andre Heimgartner | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:02.8855 S | 00.4165 |
13 | Team Darrell Lea STIX | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.0046 S | 00.5356 |
14 | Walkinshaw Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.0176 S | 00.5486 |
15 | Nissan Motorsport | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:03.0538 S | 00.5848 |
16 | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Will Davison | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:03.1138 S | 00.6448 |
17 | Nissan Motorsport | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 1:03.1181 S | 00.6491 |
18 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.1188 S | 00.6498 |
19 | Nissan Motorsport | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:03.1192 S | 00.6502 |
20 | Repair Management Aust Racing | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.1732 S | 00.7042 |
21 | Nissan Motorsport | James Moffat | Nissan Altima | 1:03.1867 S | 00.7177 |
22 | Team Cooldrive | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.3498 S | 00.8808 |
23 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | David Wall | Volvo S60 | 1:03.3978 S | 00.9288 |
24 | GB Galvanizing Racing | Dale Wood | Holden Commodore VF | 1:03.4410 S | 00.9720 |