Jamie Whincup was again the man at the top of the timesheets at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, this time in qualifying after yesterday’s practice.
While the TeamVodafone driver blitzed the field to take provisional pole, reigning Bathurst champion Garth Tander had to get a spot in tomorrow’s top 10 shootout the hard way.
The Holden Racing Team driver locked a brake entering turn two early in the session, but after limping it back to his pit crew and about the Mt Panorama circuit’s length in race tape, Tander lapped his smashed up Commodore in 2:08.1045. This put him in eighth and gives him a shot at pole position tommorow.
Tander praised his team for making the quick repairs.
“I had a lock-up going into turn two. We had new rotors on the front and they grabbed the front tyre and wouldn’t unlock,” Tander said.
“I was a passenger into the wall. I dug myself out. The boys did a fantastic job to get it back into shape and pumped out two 2:08.1s. To end up eighth and not too far from off the fastest time I was pleasantly surprised to be honest with you.”
Whincup posted a blistering 2:07.7145 lap while Kiwi Fabian Coulthard in the Brad Jones Racing Holden went just 0.0786s short of the TeamVodafone car.
Ford Performance Racing has been on the pace at every circuit in 2012 and it was no different on the mountain. Mark Winterbottom and Will Davison finished third and fourth fastest respectively while David Reynolds in the Bottle-O Ford snuck into the shootout in 10th.
TeamVodafone’s Craig Lowndes was fifth, while Stone Brothers Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen and Tim Slade also have a ticket in tommorow’s shootout. As does VIP Petfoods Ford driver Steve Owen.
The top 10 shootout is scheduled for 4:30pm Saturday local time.
1. Jamie Whincup/Paul Dumbrell, #1 TeamVodafone Commodore, 2m07.7145s
2. Fabian Coulthard/David Besnard, #14 Lockwood Commodore, 2m07.7931s
3. Mark Winterbottom/Steve Richards, #5 Orrcon Falcon, 2m07.9231s
4. Will Davison/John McIntyre, #6 Tradingpost Falcon, 2m07.9296s
5. Craig Lowndes/Warren Luff, #888 TeamVodafone Commodore, 2m07.9663s
6. Shane van Gisbergen/Luke Youlden, #9 SP Tools Falcon, 2m08.0799s
7. Tim Slade/Andrew Thompson, #47 Lucky 7 Falcon, 2m08.0912s
8. Garth Tander/Nick Percat, #2 HRT Commodore, 2m08.1045s
9. Steve Owen/Paul Morris, #49 VIP Petfoods Falcon, 2m08.1386s
10. David Reynolds/Dean Canto, #52 The Bottle-O Falcon, 2m08.2312
11. Jonathon Webb/Scott McLaughlin, #19 Tekno Commodore, 2m08.3040s
12. Jason Bright/Andrew Jones, #8 BOC Commodore, 2m08.3571s
13. Rick Kelly/David Russell, #15 Jack DanielÕs Commodore, 2m08.3925s
14. James Courtney/Cam McConville, #22 HRT Commodore, 2m08.4692s
15. Lee Holdsworth/Craig Baird, #4 IRWIN Falcon, 2m08.5379s
16. Michael Caruso/Greg Ritter, #34 Fujitsu Commodore, 2m08.5409s
17. James Moffat/Alex Davison, #17 Norton Falcon, 2m08.5849s
18. Steven Johnson/Allan Simonsen, #18 Jim Beam Falcon, 2m08.6011s
19. Todd Kelly/Tim Blanchard, #7 Jack DanielÕs Commodore, 2m08.8235s
20. Michael Patrizi/Jonny Reid, #91 Tekno Commodore, 2m08.8240s
21. Dean Fiore/Matt Halliday, #12 Jim Beam Falcon, 2m08.8253s
22. David Wall/Chris Pither, #21 Wilson Security Commodore, 2m08.9091s
23. Greg Murphy/Owen Kelly, #51 Pepsi Max Commodore, 2m08.9327s
24. Tony DÕAlberto/Dale Wood, #3 HIFLEX Falcon, 2m08.9341s
25. Russell Ingall/Christian Klien, #66 Supercheap Auto Commodore, 2m08.9822s
26. Jack Perkins/Alex Premat, #33 Fujitsu Commodore, 2m09.1725s
27. Taz Douglas/Scott Pye, #30 iSelect Commodore, 2m09.2376s
28. Karl Reindler/Daniel Gaunt, #11 Fair Dinkum Sheds Commodore, 2m09.3767s
29. Cameron Waters/Jesse Dixon, #23 Shannons Commodore, 2m10.4865s
