Mark Winterbottom will share the front-row of the grid with Jamie Whincup for Race 27 of the V8 Supercars Championship at Winton after the Ford driver came out on top in a close qualifying battle.
The Ford Performance Racing Ford proved 0.07s quicker than Whincup’s TeamVodafone Holden on the first soft tyre runs before Winterbottom increased the gap to 0.16s by running faster on his second set.
The result marks Winterbottom’s fourth Armor All Pole Award of the season and the fourth in succession for FPR.
Whincup’s earlier effort remained good enough for second on the grid ahead of a late-improving Jason Bright.
Shane van Gisbergen, James Moffat, Lee Holdsworth, James Courtney, Rick Kelly and David Reynolds completed the top 10.
Regular front-runners Craig Lowndes and Will Davison both struggled throughout the session to record the 15th and 16th fastest times respectively.
The result ensures Lowndes’ car will start outside the top six for the eighth consecutive race, while Davison’s previous worst effort in a qualifying session this season had been a ninth at Barbagallo.
The 140km Race 27 is scheduled to get underway at 1605 local time.
Result: V8 Supercars Race 27 Qualifying, Winton Motor Raceway
| 1 | Orrcon Steel FPR Ford | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 1:23.1443 | |
| 2 | TeamVodafone | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:23.3019 | 0:00.1576 |
| 3 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:23.4422 | 0:00.2979 |
| 4 | SP Tools Racing | Shane Van Gisbergen | Ford Falcon FG | 1:23.4505 | 0:00.3062 |
| 5 | Team Norton DJR | James Moffat | Ford Falcon FG | 1:23.4879 | 0:00.3436 |
| 6 | Irwin Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Ford Falcon FG | 1:23.5808 | 0:00.4365 |
| 7 | Lockwood Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:23.5875 | 0:00.4432 |
| 8 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:23.5963 | 0:00.4520 |
| 9 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Rick Kelly | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:23.6066 | 0:00.4623 |
| 10 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG | 1:23.6139 | 0:00.4696 |
| 11 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:23.6523 | 0:00.5080 |
| 12 | Team Hiflex | Tony D’Alberto | Ford Falcon FG | 1:23.6613 | 0:00.5170 |
| 13 | VIP Petfoods | Steve Owen | Ford Falcon FG | 1:23.6889 | 0:00.5446 |
| 14 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Michael Caruso | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:23.6918 | 0:00.5475 |
| 15 | TeamVodafone | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:23.7115 | 0:00.5672 |
| 16 | Trading Post FPR Ford | Will Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 1:23.7301 | 0:00.5858 |
| 17 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Alexandre Premat | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:23.7865 | 0:00.6422 |
| 18 | Lucky 7 Racing | Tim Slade | Ford Falcon FG | 1:23.7993 | 0:00.6550 |
| 19 | Tekno Autosports | Jonathon Webb | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:23.8601 | 0:00.7158 |
| 20 | Team iSelect | Taz Douglas | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:23.8967 | 0:00.7524 |
| 21 | Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing | Karl Reindler | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:23.9805 | 0:00.8362 |
| 22 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:24.0051 | 0:00.8608 |
| 23 | Wilson Security Racing | David Wall | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:24.0319 | 0:00.8876 |
| 24 | Tekno Autosports | Michael Patrizi | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:24.0370 | 0:00.8927 |
| 25 | Jim Beam Racing | Dean Fiore | Ford Falcon FG | 1:24.1116 | 0:00.9673 |
| 26 | Pepsi Max Crew | Greg Murphy | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:24.1197 | 0:00.9754 |
| 27 | Jim Beam Racing | Steven Johnson | Ford Falcon FG | 1:24.1386 | 0:00.9943 |
| 28 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:24.2173 | 0:01.0730 |
See below for Speedcafe.com’s Winton Race Guide
