Bathurst 1000: McLaughlin tops crash-affected qualifying

Fresh off the back of setting a new lap record this morning, McLaughlin first jumped to the top of the qualifying time sheet with a 2m04.457s under 20 minutes into the session.

While that time would have been good enough for provisional pole, McLaughlin didn’t stop there. With 15 minutes to go he improved to a 2m04.318s, before sealing the deal with a 2m04.225s on his final run.

David Reynolds finished up second, despite a scare with a red flag at the end of the session. While he’d effectively booked his Shootout spot with a 2m04.976s early in the session, he almost lost his best lap – a 2m04.473s – when James Moffat hit the wall with seconds left on the clock.

Luckily Reynolds had crossed the line, bumping himself down to the classy end of the Shootout running order.

While it ultimately didn’t affect Reynolds, the red flag did change the complexion of the Top 10. Moffat himself had effectively secured a Shootout spot, sitting ninth before tagging the wall on the way out of The Dipper.

Triggering the red flag meant he lost his quickest time, and ended the session classified down in 22nd.

The Garry Rogers Motorsport will also have a late-night repair on its hands, with Moffat’s Commodore bouncing off both sides of the wall as the shunt played out.

The silver lining for the GRM crew was that Moffat’s exclusion from the Top 10 promoted Garth Tander into 10th, sneaking him into the Shootout.

Moffat’s crash also affected Fabian Coulthard, who had gone purple in the first sector of his final lap. The red flag meant he had to abort the lap, although he still booked a Shootout spot with the sixth fastest time.

Leading Coulthard was a trio of Prodrive Fords, Chaz Mostert leading Cam Waters and Mark Winterbottom.

Shane van Gisbergen was seventh fastest, and the only Triple Eight driver to make the Shootout. His Red Bull Holden teammate Jamie Whincup – considered a pre-race favourite – failed to make the Shootout at all, qualifying 12th before being promoted to 11th after Moffat lost his lap.

Craig Lowndes, meanwhile, will start the race way down in 19th.

James Courtney put a Walkinshaw Commodore in the Shootout with the eighth best time, while Jason Bright’s ninth made sure all four Prodrive Fords made it into tomorrow’s one-lap dash.

Not a single Nissan made the cut, Rick Kelly the squad’s best performer in 12th.

Cla	#	Driver	Car	Time	Gap
1	17	Alexandre Prémat    Scott McLaughlin	Ford Falcon FG-X	2'04.2254
2	9	David Reynolds  Luke Youlden	Holden Commodore VF	2'04.4730	0.2476
3	55	Steven Owen    Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG-X	2'04.5304	0.3050
4	6	Richie Stanaway    Cameron Waters	Ford Falcon FG-X	2'04.5958	0.3704
5	5	Mark Winterbottom    Dean Canto	Ford Falcon FG-X	2'04.7857	0.5603
6	12	Tony D'Alberto    Fabian Coulthard	Ford Falcon FG-X	2'04.8955	0.6701
7	97	Shane van Gisbergen    Matt Campbell	Holden Commodore VF	2'05.0225	0.7971
8	22	James Courtney    Jack Perkins	Holden Commodore VF	2'05.0417	0.8163
9	56	Jason Bright    Garry Jacobson	Ford Falcon FG-X	2'05.0804	0.8550
10	33	Garth Tander    James Golding	Holden Commodore VF	2'05.1094	0.8840
11	88	Jamie Whincup    Paul Dumbrell	Holden Commodore VF	2'05.1686	0.9432
12	15	Rick Kelly    David Wall	Nissan Altima	2'05.1996	0.9742
13	23	Michael Caruso    Dean Fiore	Nissan Altima	2'05.2503	1.0249
14	8	Nick Percat    Macauley Jones	Holden Commodore VF	2'05.2846	1.0592
15	20	Todd Kelly    Jack Le Brocq	Nissan Altima	2'05.2974	1.0720
16	19	Jonathon Webb    Will Davison	Holden Commodore VF	2'05.3840	1.1586
17	18	Lee Holdsworth    Karl Reindler	Holden Commodore VF	2'05.4379	1.2125
18	14	Tim Slade    Ash Walsh	Holden Commodore VF	2'05.5562	1.3308
19	888	Steven Richards    Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore VF	2'05.5625	1.3371
20	2	Warren Luff    Scott Pye	Holden Commodore VF	2'05.6182	1.3928
21	99	Dale Wood    Chris Pither	Holden Commodore VF	2'05.6414	1.4160
22	34	James Moffat    Richard Muscat	Holden Commodore VF	2'05.6430	1.4176
23	78	Simona de Silvestro    David Russell	Nissan Altima	2'05.9423	1.7169
24	21	Tim Blanchard    Todd Hazelwood	Holden Commodore VF	2'05.9703	1.7449
25	3	Aaren Russell    Taz Douglas	Holden Commodore VF	2'06.4233	2.1979
26	62	Alex Davison    Alex Rullo	Holden Commodore VF	2'07.4801	3.2547