It was Penrite Racing’s David Reynolds converting provisional pole to the prime starting position in the Top 10 Shootout on the streets of Newcastle.
Reynolds was fastest in the qualifying session on a 1m 11.487s to lead into the Top 10 Shootout with good momentum as Cameron Waters, James Golding, Shane van Gisbergen, Tim Slade, Chaz Mostert, Todd Hazelwood, James Courtney, Jack Le Brocq and Broc Feeney also made the cut off.
Missing out again were the two Shell V-Power Racing Team Ford Mustangs, with Will Davison 11th and Anton De Pasquale 21st.
An impressive performance from Matt Payne in the second Penrite Racing Mustang placed him 12th ahead of R&J Batteries-supported Andre Heimgartner, DEWALT Racing’s Mark Winterbottom and yesterday’s poleman Brodie Kostecki in the lead Coca-Cola Racing by Erebus Chevrolet Camaro.
The Top 10 Shootout provided plenty of action as Courtney became the first to crash a Gen3 chassis during his lap, with the Tickford Racing squad scrambling to repair the Snowy River Mustang ahead of this afternoon’s 250km race.
In the end, Reynolds toppled Optus Mobil 1 Racing’s Mostert by 0.005s as the lead Chevrolet was in third for Nulon Racing’s Golding. PremiAir again featured twice in the Top 10 Shootout as Slade qualified sixth.
Monster Energy Racing’s Waters will start fourth, with van Gisbergen sixth in the lead Red Bull Ampol Racing Chevrolet as teammate Feeney is seventh.
A superb effort by Truck Assist Racing’s Le Brocq put him eighth ahead of Hazelwood in the Blanchard Racing Team Mustang and Courtney.
The final 250km race on the streets of Newcastle commences at an altered time of 3:10pm AEDT in anticipation of deteriorating weather conditions predicted for later this afternoon.