Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia veteran Luke Youlden has stormed to pole position for the opening leg of the NTI Townsville 500.
It marks the 2017 Bathurst 1000 winner’s first Carrera Cup pole in 17 years, since the 2005 Oran Park event.
In a split session whereby Pro-Am competitors sorted themselves out before the Pro field got stuck into qualifying, Youlden dominated proceedings.
The 44-year-old was on top heading into crunch time, before series returnee Aaron Love went fastest with a 1:13.0775s set inside the final three minutes.
Simon Fallon then split Love and Youlden to go second, before the latter banged in a 1:13.0612s to reclaim top spot.
Dylan O’Keeffe capitalised on the rapid track evolution to slot in third, as eyes darted towards the struggles of championship leader Harri Jones.
Jones was just 15th in the 19-strong Pro field when the chequered flag dropped, and fell to third-last, before improving – albeit only to 10th.
Youlden meanwhile was going faster again, improving to a stunning 1:12.9801s on his final effort.
That time saw almost six tenths shaved off the practice/qualifying lap record that had been set yesterday by David Wall.
Geoff Emery was fastest in the Pro-Am class.
Race 1 for Carrera Cup will comprise 17 laps, starting from 12:45 AEST today.
Results: Qualifying
| Pos | Car | Driver | Class | Fastest Lap | Gap |
| 1 | 53 | Luke Youlden | Pro | 1:12.9801 | |
| 2 | 999 | Aaron Love | Pro | 1:13.0775 | 0:00.0974 |
| 3 | 88 | Dylan O’Keeffe | Pro | 1:13.1526 | 0:00.1725 |
| 4 | 5 | Ryan Suhle | Pro / Michelin Junior | 1:13.2160 | 0:00.2359 |
| 5 | 777 | Simon Fallon | Pro / Michelin Junior | 1:13.2299 | 0:00.2498 |
| 6 | 100 | Dale Wood | Pro | 1:13.2328 | 0:00.2527 |
| 7 | 38 | David Wall | Pro | 1:13.2631 | 0:00.2830 |
| 8 | 45 | Duvashen Padayachee | Pro | 1:13.2695 | 0:00.2894 |
| 9 | 11 | Jackson Walls | Pro / Michelin Junior | 1:13.2772 | 0:00.2971 |
| 10 | 12 | Harri Jones | Pro / Michelin Junior | 1:13.2789 | 0:00.2988 |
| 11 | 17 | Callum Hedge | Pro / Michelin Junior | 1:13.3794 | 0:00.3993 |
| 12 | 25 | Michael Almond | Pro | 1:13.4143 | 0:00.4342 |
| 13 | 74 | David Russell | Pro | 1:13.4167 | 0:00.4366 |
| 14 | 28 | Bayley Hall | Pro / Michelin Junior | 1:13.5983 | 0:00.6182 |
| 15 | 6 | Angelo Mouzouris | Pro / Michelin Junior | 1:13.6421 | 0:00.6620 |
| 16 | 333 | Brad Shiels | Pro | 1:13.7084 | 0:00.7283 |
| 17 | 8 | Nick McBride | Pro | 1:13.7830 | 0:00.8029 |
| 18 | 72 | Max Vidau | Pro / Michelin Junior | 1:13.8153 | 0:00.8352 |
| 19 | 76 | Christian Pancione | Pro / Michelin Junior | 1:14.0139 | 0:01.0338 |
| 1 | 48 | Geoff Emery | Morris Pro-Am | 1:13.9383* | |
| 2 | 27 | Liam Talbot | Morris Pro-Am | 1:14.1548 | 0:00.2165 |
| 3 | 13 | Sam Shahin | Morris Pro-Am | 1:14.2938 | 0:00.3555 |
| 4 | 7 | Tim Miles | Morris Pro-Am | 1:14.4584 | 0:00.5201 |
| 5 | 20 | Adrian Flack | Morris Pro-Am | 1:14.5538 | 0:00.6155 |
| 6 | 22 | Dean Cook | Morris Pro-Am | 1:14.8959 | 0:00.9576 |
| 7 | 77 | Rodney Jane | Morris Pro-Am | 1:14.9407 | 0:01.0024 |
| 8 | 4 | Stephen Grove | Morris Pro-Am | 1:14.9731 | 0:01.0348 |
| 9 | 14 | Matthew Belford | Morris Pro-Am | 1:15.0546 | 0:01.1163 |
| 10 | 86 | Drew Hall | Morris Pro-Am | 1:15.7354 | 0:01.7971 |
| 11 | 9 | Marc Cini | Morris Pro-Am | 1:15.9922 | 0:02.0539 |
| 12 | 222 | Scott Taylor | Morris Pro-Am | 1:16.3993 | 0:02.4610 |
| 13 | 101 | Tony Quinn | Morris Pro-Am | 1:16.6415 | 0:02.7032 |
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