Anton De Pasquale has secured provisional pole for the opening race of the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 after a lightning quick lap.
Following his heartache at the Repco Bathurst 1000 two weeks ago, the Team 18 driver responded brilliantly and put his #18 Chevrolet Camaro on provisional pole with a lap of 1:09.0770, beating the #88 Red Bull Ampol Racing Ford Mustang of Broc Feeney by the slender margin of 0.0690 seconds.
Matt Payne finished the session in third place by an even smaller margin, as the championship leader guided the #19 Penrite Racing Ford Mustang to a time just 0.005 seconds off Feeney, while Andre Heimgartner was the fastest of the non-Finals contenders. The Brad Jones Racing Toyota GR Supra driver posted the fourth-fastest time, a further 0.013 seconds back, marking three different manufacturers inside the top four.
Despite the threat of rain, the field wasted little time getting up to speed, with Payne immediately making up for lost ground after a drive belt failure prevented him from completing a qualifying simulation in the previous session. The championship leader set the early benchmark with a 1:09.4527, moving ahead of Practice 1 pace-setter James Golding.
As the circuit became bathed in sunshine, the times continued to tumble, with Cam Waters briefly taking top spot on a 1:09.3764. Bathurst winner Brodie Kostecki also moved into second as the battle for a place in Saturday’s Top Ten Shootout began to intensify.
Chaz Mostert then charged to the top of the timesheets approaching the halfway mark, recording a 1:09.3460 to edge Waters by just 0.03 seconds, with Kostecki a further 0.07 seconds behind in a closely contested session.
However, several Finals contenders found themselves outside the top 10 at the halfway point, with Ryan Wood sitting 11th, Will Brown 14th, Kai Allen 18th after several kerb strikes, and Jack Le Brocq down in 20th.
Brown’s difficult session continued when the Red Bull Ampol Racing driver locked the rear wheels and ran down the escape road at Turn 11 while attempting to improve his position. Aaron Cameron also ran wide at the same corner moments later after setting a fastest first sector.
New PremiAir Racing recruit Cooper Murray suffered another setback in his first official session for the team, striking the wall at the exit of the Beach Chicane after an awkward encounter with the Turn 10 kerb, forcing him to the pits early.
Feeney subsequently surged to the top of the timesheets with a 1:09.2868, while Thomas Randle moved into second, just 0.0078 seconds behind, setting up a tense final run as the threat of rain continued to hang over the circuit.
Wood and Brown both produced late improvements to move inside the top 10, while Allen made a decisive jump into ninth position just as the chequered flag fell.
Their late progress came at the expense of Kostecki, who was unable to respond after repeated kerb strikes compromised his final run. The Repco Bathurst 1000 winner was the biggest name to miss out on tomorrow’s shootout, eventually finishing 11th.
Le Brocq was the only other Finals contender to miss the top 10, qualifying 17th after struggling to find the necessary pace throughout the session.
Following qualifying, Brown was handed a two-place grid penalty for impeding Le Brocq during the session. The Red Bull Ampol Racing driver will be demoted two positions from wherever he finishes in Saturday’s Top Ten Shootout, with Le Brocq having qualified 17th.
View the full Qualifying results here.
Saturday’s Supercars action begins with the Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout at 12:35pm local time (1:35pm AEDT).