Gold Coast 600: Van Gisbergen blitzes to Race 22 pole

Van Gisbergen immediately threw down the gauntlet at the start of the 20-minute session, putting up a 1:10.785. David Reynolds and Jamie Whincup were next to join him in the 1:10s, but neither managed to match him.

The man that would make Giz work for it was none other than Scott McLaughlin, who went straight to the top with a 1:10.684. Eight minutes remained, so there was plenty of time for Triple Eight to respond to the Volvo.

With just over five minutes left on the clock, the majority of the field dove to the pits to prepare for their third and final run. However, the Holden Racing Team sent out their cars a bit too early and both encountered heavy traffic, which nearly culminated with an accident. James Courtney was quickly approaching an unaware Todd Kelly, who was on his warmup lap and swerving back-and-forth. A collision was only avoided due to the quick reaction by Courtney, who actually threw his own cars sideways due to how sharply he turned the wheel.

Courtney would qualify 11th and Tander 14th.

Meanwhile, the fight for pole was on. Van Gisbergen asserted himself once more with a 1:10.6544, 0.0297 clear of McLaughlin. He tried his best to take it back with two attempts, but came up short of his personal best both times, having to settle for the outside of the front row.

Jamie Whincup was third, James Moffat fourth, David Reynolds fifth, Michael Caruso sixth, Lee Holdsworth seventh, Will Davison eighth, Mark Winterbottom ninth, and Chaz Mostert tenth.