The TeamVodafone Commodore of Jamie Whincup and Sebastien Bourdais will start Race 21 of the V8 Supercars Championship from pole position.
Whincup was the eighth man out in the Top 10 Shootout, laying down a wild but fast 1:11.72s lap to eclipse the best effort of previous fastest man Will Davison (Trading Post FPR).
The two-time V8 Supercars Champion had his team on edge when he locked his right-front tyre heading into Turn 11 – running right up against the exit wall as a result.
With provisional pole-sitter Garth Tander (Toll Holden Racing Team) missing Whincup’s benchmark by just 0.002s of a second, Whincup was assured the top spot.
“I think I scared myself and everyone in my garage,” said Whincup after the session.
“I locked the front, unlocked it and then locked it again. I thought we’ll see what happens, so I tipped it in and lucky she went around (the corner).
“The whole lap is a wild ride around here, especially with the chicanes and the bollards and what not.”
“I really freaked out when I saw the lock-up,” added Bourdais, who is expected to start car #88 in this afternoon’s race.
“I thought ‘oh, that’s not good news’, but he pulled it up. Obviously he’s done this a few times before, so I’m really happy.”
Davison’s time was good enough for third, ahead of Steve Owen (VIP Petfoods Racing) and Alex Davison (IRWIN Tools Racing).
James Moffat (Jim Beam Racing) was the first man out in the Shootout courtesy of his 10th place in qualifying this morning, with his 1:12.22s proving good enough to beat Lee Holdsworth (Fujitsu Racing), Rick Kelly (Jack Daniel’s Racing), Shane van Gisbergen (Sp Tools Racing) and James Courtney (Toll Holden Racing Team) into fifth position.
Courtney lost the baulk of his time in the first sector having missed the apex at the Turn 4.
Race 21 will get underway at 1340 local time.
CLICK HERE for Speedcafe.com’s Race 21 qualifying report
See below for the Top 10 Shootout result
| 1 | TeamVodafone | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:11.7184 | |
| 2 | Toll Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:11.7199 | 0:00.0015 |
| 3 | Trading Post FPR Falcon | Will Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 1:12.0516 | 0:00.3332 |
| 4 | VIP Petfoods | Steve Owen | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:12.0756 | 0:00.3572 |
| 5 | Irwin Racing | Alex Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 1:12.2168 | 0:00.4984 |
| 6 | Jim Beam Racing | James Moffat | Ford Falcon FG | 1:12.2169 | 0:00.4985 |
| 7 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:12.2625 | 0:00.5441 |
| 8 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Rick Kelly | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:12.4015 | 0:00.6831 |
| 9 | SP Tools Racing | Shane Van Gisbergen | Ford Falcon FG | 1:12.4293 | 0:00.7109 |
| 10 | Toll Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:12.5161 | 0:00.7977 |
See below for Speedcafe.com’s Armor All Gold Coast 600 Race Guide
