Jamie Whincup has secured the Armor All Pole Award for season 2011 by taking his ninth pole of 2011 ahead of Race 26 at Sandown.
The TeamVodafone driver sat eighth before setting out on a two-lap run on his third and final green tyre set – immediately going to the top with a 1:09.71s effort.
His second lap lowered the benchmark by a further 0.03s, and proved 0.1s quicker than the final lap by Orrcon Steel Ford Performance Racing’s Mark Winterbottom.
Whincup had earlier survived minor offs on both his first and second set of tyres as he found the limits of the circuit in dry conditions.
Lee Holdsworth will start third, having held the top spot with two minutes remaining before failing to improve on his final set.
Craig Lowndes’ final effort was good enough to demote Shane van Gisbergen to fifth, while Will Davison, Michael Caruso, Paul Dumbrell and Tim Slade rounded out the top 10.
It was a difficult session for the Toll Holden Racing Team, with James Courtney and Garth Tander set to start from 12th and 16th respectively.
Yesterday’s winner Rick Kelly also struggled and will start 15th, two places behind brother and fellow Saturday podium finisher Todd Kelly.
Steve Owen endured mechanical problems during the session and could manage just 27th.
Just 1.37s covered the 28 car field.
Race 26 will take place at 1540 this afternoon.
Jamie Whincup Sandown pole Sunday 2011 by speedcafe
See below for the full qualifying result
| 1 | TeamVodafone | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:09.6789 | |
| 2 | Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 1:09.7763 | 0:00.0974 |
| 3 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:09.8377 | 0:00.1588 |
| 4 | TeamVodafone | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:09.9141 | 0:00.2352 |
| 5 | SP Tools Racing | Shane Van Gisbergen | Ford Falcon FG | 1:09.9600 | 0:00.2811 |
| 6 | Trading Post FPR Falcon | Will Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 1:09.9711 | 0:00.2922 |
| 7 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Michael Caruso | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:10.0245 | 0:00.3456 |
| 8 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | Paul Dumbrell | Ford Falcon FG | 1:10.0316 | 0:00.3527 |
| 9 | Lucky 7 Racing | Tim Slade | Ford Falcon FG | 1:10.1120 | 0:00.4331 |
| 10 | Jim Beam Racing | James Moffat | Ford Falcon FG | 1:10.2230 | 0:00.5441 |
| 11 | Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing | Karl Reindler | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:10.2477 | 0:00.5688 |
| 12 | Toll Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:10.2630 | 0:00.5841 |
| 13 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Todd Kelly | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:10.2823 | 0:00.6034 |
| 14 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:10.3107 | 0:00.6318 |
| 15 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Rick Kelly | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:10.3211 | 0:00.6422 |
| 16 | Toll Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:10.3318 | 0:00.6529 |
| 17 | Stratco Racing | David Reynolds | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:10.3382 | 0:00.6593 |
| 18 | Jim Beam Racing | Steven Johnson | Ford Falcon FG | 1:10.3775 | 0:00.6986 |
| 19 | Wilson Security Racing | Tony D’Alberto | Ford Falcon FG | 1:10.3816 | 0:00.7027 |
| 20 | Irwin Racing | Alex Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 1:10.3826 | 0:00.7037 |
| 21 | Mother Energy Racing Team | Jonathon Webb | Ford Falcon FG | 1:10.4045 | 0:00.7256 |
| 22 | Bundaberg Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:10.4698 | 0:00.7909 |
| 23 | Pepsi Max Crew | Greg Murphy | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:10.4982 | 0:00.8193 |
| 24 | Triple F Racing | Dean Fiore | Ford Falcon FG | 1:10.5709 | 0:00.8920 |
| 25 | Team BOC | Andrew Jones | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:10.6248 | 0:00.9459 |
| 26 | Jana Living Racing | Jason Bargwanna | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:10.7990 | 0:01.1201 |
| 27 | VIP Petfoods | Steve Owen | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:11.0146 | 0:01.3357 |
| 28 | Gulf Western Oil Racing | Warren Luff | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:11.0506 | 0:01.3717 |
