Wild accident in SuperUtes qualifying

Ryal Harris has taken the first ECB SuperUtes Series pole position in a qualifying session which featured a wild accident for Aaron Cameron.

Cameron slid wide through Turn 4, running off the edge of the circuit and into the tyre barrier, which picked up the left-front corner of his Mazda BT-50.

The car skated on its side but did not roll completely, coming to rest in the middle of the track and prompting red flags in the sixth minute of the 20-minute session.

Cameron managed to climb out of the cockpit himself and the Peters Motorsport car was returned to the paddock on a flatbed.

“It’s all good,” Cameron told Speedcafe.com of his own condition.

“It just sucks, it really does suck.

“Going into Turn 4 I just tipped her in, it was all good, then felt the rear going around.

“I caught that, and I thought the ute was just going to hit the wall, go in, and then bounce back out, but next minute I was on my side. It was pretty scary.”

The session restarted with five minutes remaining and Harris, in the other Peters BT-50, managed to extend his advantage at the top of the timesheets and secure the category’s inaugural Armor All Pole Position.

His ultimate pole time of 1:45.9894s was marginally better than his pace-setting Practice effort of 1:46.0642s.

Craig Woods twice improved after the restart to put his Western Sydney Motorsport Toyota Hilux onto the front row, having also been second to Harris in Practice.

Tom Alexander went faster after the chequered flag to take the Ross Stone Racing Holden Colorado to third-fastest.

He will line up alongside Cameron, who lost his best lap time for kerb hopping but had one other in the books good enough to take fourth.

Toby Price (Sieders Racing Team Mitsubishi Triton) and Ben Walsh (Western Sydney Hilux) will share the median row of the 10-car field.

Craig Dontas has only had limited laps after blowing a turbo hose on his out lap in Practice and experiencing further problems in Qualifying, but will start from seventh.

Matt MacKelden (Sieders Hilux) also starts off Row 4, with Christopher Formosa (Ranger Racing Ford Ranger) and Tomas Gasperak rounding out the field.

Gasperak missed Practice at the start of the day because of work on the Team 18 Holden Colorado which was delayed by a late arrival due to a transporter problem.

Race 1, to be run over eight laps, takes place tomorrow at 1355 local time/1425 AEDT.

Peters team owner Rod Dawson has confirmed to Speedcafe.com that Cameron’s car will take the start, with damage limited largely to suspension and the lower control arm.

Results: Qualifying