Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

USA
Qualifying report

Perth Supercars: McLaughlin on pole, Red Bulls miss Q3

Scott McLaughlin took pole position for this afternoon's opening Supercars race at Barbagallo Raceway, while both factory Holdens will start outside the Top 10 after being knocked out of Q2.

Scott McLaughlin, DJR Team Penske Ford

Scott McLaughlin, DJR Team Penske Ford

Dirk Klynsmith / Motorsport Images

Rick Kelly, Nissan Motorsport Nissan
Scott McLaughlin, DJR Team Penske Ford
Mark Winterbottom, Tickford Racing Ford
Cameron Waters, Tickford Racing Ford
Scott McLaughlin, DJR Team Penske Ford
Jamie Whincup, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden
Anton De Pasquale, Erebus Motorsport Holden

McLaughlin needed two bites of the cherry in Q3, going fastest with a 54.774s on his first run, only to be immediately knocked off top spot by Cam Waters' 54.712s.

That meant McLaughlin had to go to a second set of tyres late in the session, a 54.639s on that final run good enough to relegate Waters to the outside of the front row.

"I actually made a meal of it," said McLaughlin. "I didn't give myself a big enough kick up the backside after practice, so I need to go back and look at it. I'm a bit annoyed with myself, I felt like we could have done that on my first set."

The second row is all Penske/Tickford as well, Fabian Coulthard third and Mark Winterbottom fourth.

Tim Slade qualified fifth thanks to a lap early in Q3, followed by Chaz Mostert and David Reynolds, who went the long way from Q1.

Craig Lowndes was the sole Triple Eight driver in the Top 10 with eighth, ahead of Anton De Pasquale and Will Davison.

The biggest surprise from qualifying was the lack of Red Bull Holdens in Q3. Both Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen failed to make it into the final phase of qualifying, the Kiwi set to start 12th while the reigning champion will start 14th.

"Yeah, no good," said Whincup. "Not really sure what's going on. There's a lot of grip out there, and we didn't maximise the grip.

"We've got some work to do. The car didn't feel that bad, just not quite quick enough. Short lap you only need to lose a little bit and you're out of the 10."

There were some big casualties in Q1 too, with James Courtney, Michael Caruso, and Nick Percat all failing to make it out of the first 10-minute session.

Richie Stanaway was the man on the Q1 bubble, finishing up seventh fastest in the session to grab 17th on the grid. Percat was right behind the Tickford Ford, while Caruso will start 19th and Courtney back in 21st.

Rick Kelly didn't even get the chance to fight in Q1, an engine problem ruling him out of the session after just a single lap. He'll start today's race from dead last.

ClaDriverCarTime
1 17 new_zealand  Scott McLaughlin  Ford Falcon FG X 54.6397
2 6 australia  Cameron Waters  Ford Falcon FG X 54.7123
3 12 new_zealand  Fabian Coulthard  Ford Falcon FG X 54.7280
4 5 australia  Mark Winterbottom  Ford Falcon FG X 54.7318
5 14 australia  Tim Slade  Holden Commodore ZB 54.8034
6 55 australia  Chaz Mostert  Ford Falcon FG X 54.8639
7 9 australia  David Reynolds  Holden Commodore ZB 54.8837
8 888 australia  Craig Lowndes  Holden Commodore ZB 54.8974
9 99 australia  Anton de Pasquale  Holden Commodore ZB 55.2732
10 400 australia  Will Davison  Ford Falcon FG X 54.9247
11 2 australia  Scott Pye  Holden Commodore ZB 55.0250
12 97 new_zealand  Shane van Gisbergen  Holden Commodore ZB 55.0597
13 19 australia  Jack Le Brocq  Holden Commodore ZB 55.0816
14 1 australia  Jamie Whincup  Holden Commodore ZB 55.0995
15 78 switzerland  Simona de Silvestro  Nissan Altima 55.2034
16 18 australia  Lee Holdsworth  Holden Commodore ZB 55.7084
17 56 new_zealand  Richie Stanaway  Ford Falcon FG X 55.2538
18 8 australia  Nick Percat  Holden Commodore ZB 55.2559
19 23 australia  Michael Caruso  Nissan Altima 55.2711
20 33 australia  Garth Tander  Holden Commodore ZB 55.3015
21 25 australia  James Courtney  Holden Commodore ZB 55.3423
22 34 australia  James Golding  Holden Commodore ZB 55.3812
23 7 new_zealand  Andre Heimgartner  Nissan Altima 55.3889
24 21 australia  Tim Blanchard  Holden Commodore ZB 55.4884
25 35 australia  Todd Hazelwood  Ford Falcon FG X 55.5560
26 15 australia  Rick Kelly  Nissan Altima 55.6873

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Perth Supercars: Davison fastest in final practice
Next article Perth Supercars: McLaughlin dominates opening race

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

USA