Mark Winterbottom has scored Ford’s first pole position of the 2013 season in the second of two back-to-back qualifying sessions on Sunday morning at Symmons Plains.
The 15 minute Race 5 qualifying, run just 10 minutes after the conclusion of Race 4 qualifying, saw Winterbottom record a best of 51.21s on his final lap.
Fabian Coulthard completed a treble of second place qualifying efforts for the weekend, just 0.06s adrift of the Pepsi Max Ford.
The Kiwi had briefly held the top spot before Winterbottom put his definitive time down with 30 seconds on the clock.
“It’s so tight out there it just depends on what lap you get it on and how you go,” said Winterbottom afterward.
“It’s good for Ford fans. They’ve been a little bit down on how many Holdens have been doing well and hopefully today is the day we’ll get one back.”
Secure your spot today.
Jamie Whincup repeated his Race 4 qualifying with third ahead of an improved James Courtney and the consistently impressive Scott McLaughlin.
Will Davison, Jonathon Webb, Race 4 pole-sitter Jason Bright, Shane van Gisbergen and David Reynolds completed the top 10.
Craig Lowndes and Garth Tander both have work to do after managing just 11th and 13th respectively while Lee Holdsworth was again the best of the Mercedes runners in 15th.
Alex Premat endured a difficult session in the #34 Fujitsu GRM Holden, spinning wildly at Turn 7 during his first run after contact with Dean Fiore. The incident is set to be investigated by the stewards prior to the race.
The 100km Race 5 is set to get underway at 1610 local time.
See below for the full Race 5 qualifying result
| 1 | Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 0:51.2052 | |
| 2 | Lockwood Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VF | 0:51.2700 | 0:00.0648 |
| 3 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 0:51.3083 | 0:00.1031 |
| 4 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 0:51.3403 | 0:00.1351 |
| 5 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Holden Commodore VF | 0:51.3458 | 0:00.1406 |
| 6 | Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford | Will Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 0:51.3648 | 0:00.1596 |
| 7 | Tekno Autosports | Jonathon Webb | Holden Commodore VF | 0:51.3734 | 0:00.1682 |
| 8 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 0:51.3836 | 0:00.1784 |
| 9 | TEKNO Team VIP | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 0:51.4036 | 0:00.1984 |
| 10 | The Bottle-O FPR Ford | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG | 0:51.4524 | 0:00.2472 |
| 11 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 0:51.4895 | 0:00.2843 |
| 12 | Dodo Insurance Racing | Dean Fiore | Holden Commodore VF | 0:51.4983 | 0:00.2931 |
| 13 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 0:51.5051 | 0:00.2999 |
| 14 | Team HIFLEX | Tony D’Alberto | Holden Commodore VF | 0:51.5785 | 0:00.3733 |
| 15 | Irwin Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Mercedes E63 AMG | 0:51.6374 | 0:00.4322 |
| 16 | Heavy Haulage Racing | Tim Slade | Mercedes E63 AMG | 0:51.6471 | 0:00.4419 |
| 17 | ekol Racing | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore VF | 0:51.6532 | 0:00.4480 |
| 18 | Jeld-wen FPR Ford | Alex Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 0:51.6808 | 0:00.4756 |
| 19 | Wilson Security Racing | David Wall | Holden Commodore VF | 0:51.7041 | 0:00.4989 |
| 20 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VF | 0:51.7264 | 0:00.5212 |
| 21 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 0:51.8376 | 0:00.6324 |
| 22 | Norton 360 Racing | James Moffat | Nissan Altima | 0:51.8581 | 0:00.6529 |
| 23 | Norton 360 Racing | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 0:51.8831 | 0:00.6779 |
| 24 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Alexandre Premat | Holden Commodore VF | 0:51.9017 | 0:00.6965 |
| 25 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 0:52.0167 | 0:00.8115 |
| 26 | SP Tools Racing | Maro Engel | Mercedes E63 AMG | 0:52.1588 | 0:00.9536 |
| 27 | Wilson Security Racing | Tim Blanchard | Ford Falcon FG | 0:52.2036 | 0:00.9984 |
| 28 | Wilson Security Racing | Jonny Reid | Ford Falcon FG | 0:52.4263 | 0:01.2211 |
