Wood seals narrow Super2 pole in Newcastle

Ryan Wood has sealed pole position for the second Super2 Series race of the weekend in Newcastle.

The Walkinshaw Andretti United driver was just 0.0025s faster than Zak Best while the top four was covered by less than a tenth of a second.

Cameron McLeod took Super3 honours and will line up 15th overall with Jobe Stewart second best in class.

Super3 session

Jobe Stewart set the early running with a 1:15.1758s, though well off the pace which secured top spot in Saturday’s session.

Soon after Cameron McLeod went quicker with a 1:14.7824s, the third-generation racer proving aggressive as he clattered over kerbs and slid his way down the hill.

He improved to a 1:14.6779s next time around though there was more time to be had through the middle third of the lap.

Nonetheless, it left him 0.5s clear of the pack.

A moment from Mason Kelly rounding Turn 5 saw the back step out, picking it up by sliding through Turn 6 which saw him graze the tyre barrier with the rear of the Nissan Altima.

Next time around Kelly nosed into the fence at Turn 8 as he moved to avoid the stricken Jett Johnson who had slid sideways into the tyre wall before bouncing to a rest at a 45-degree angle, nose in.

Officials quickly red-flagged the session, bringing the Super3 segment of the session to a close with 44 seconds remaining.

That left McLeod fastest from Stewart, results which will see them 15th and 19th respectively on the combined grid.

Super2 session

Brad Vaughan shot to the top when Super2 qualifying commenced, recording a 1:13.4231s.

That stood only until Ryan Wood managed a 1:13.2559s, holding that spot as Aaron Love slotted in second, 0.0610s slower.

It was again a rapid session that saw the pack queuing in the final sector with less than three minutes to run.

A mistake from Zak Best saw the Mustang driver up the escape road after locking on approach to Cops.

He made it back to the line in time to start another lap, sitting second at 0.0025s away from pole at the time.

Matt Chahda improved as the chequered flag waved to jump to third fastest, 0.0467s away from the front of the field.

Cameron Crick sustained damage to the right front of his car as those around him completed their laps, none improving to leave Wood on pole.

Best will start third ahead of Chahda, Love, Cooper Murray, Jay Janson, Brad Vaughan, and Jack Perkins in eighth.

The Second Super2 race of the weekend begins at 13:45 AEDT.

Results: Qualifying for Race 2