Sandown Supercars: Van Gisbergen sweeps Sunday poles

The first session started in light-but-consistent rain, the red flag coming out before anybody had time to set a lap.

The culprit was Jake Kostecki, who ended up beached in the gravel at Turn 1, complaining of a stuck throttle over the radio.

When the session got going it was the Triple Eight cars that set the pace, Jamie Whincup leading initially with a 1m18.566s before van Gisbergen took over with a 1m18.327s.

That was followed by a nervous moment for the Race 1 winner, who bounced over a kerb at Turn 2, spun through Turn 3 an ended up facing the wrong way on the entry to Turn 4.

Had that prompted a red flag he would have lost his fastest time and been booted out of the session, however van Gisbergen was able to get going under his own steam to avoid a stoppage.

That effectively sealed Race 2 pole for van Gisbergen ahead of Whincup, Chaz Mostert and Cam Waters.

The rain eased but the track stayed wet for the second session, van Gisbergen leading from start to finish.

He continued to improve along the way, starting at a 1m18.606s and ending with a pole-winning 1m18.006s.

"[The car] was awesome to drive," he said. "Following [the DJR cars] out I could tell we had plenty of grip. It's just learning the lines and trying to follow the train tracks, but the car was awesome in both sessions.

"Normally I don't like the rain but today it wasn't a bad thing. Hopefully the weather is easy, it's one or the other, rain or dry. When it's in between it gets tricky."

Whincup was second again in the second session, followed by Will Davison and David Reynolds, that pair posting their best qualifying results since making off-season team switches.

Mostert and Waters were unable to match their efforts from the first session, the pair slumping to ninth and 10th respectively in the second.

Qualifying results for Race 2

Cla	#	Driver	Car	Time	Gap	Interval
1	97	Shane van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore ZB	1'18.327
2	88	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore ZB	1'18.566	0.239	0.239
3	25	Chaz Mostert	Holden Commodore ZB	1'18.807	0.480	0.240
4	6	Cameron Waters	Ford Mustang GT	1'18.993	0.666	0.186
5	7	Andre Heimgartner	Ford Mustang GT	1'19.110	0.783	0.117
6	44	James Courtney	Ford Mustang GT	1'19.144	0.817	0.033
7	17	Will Davison	Ford Mustang GT	1'19.264	0.937	0.119
8	11	Anton De Pasquale	Ford Mustang GT	1'19.283	0.956	0.019
9	26	David Reynolds	Ford Mustang GT	1'19.416	1.089	0.132
10	8	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore ZB	1'19.437	1.110	0.021
View full results

Qualifying results for Race 3

Cla	#	Driver	Car	Time	Gap	Interval
1	97	Shane van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore ZB	1'18.006
2	88	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore ZB	1'18.363	0.356	0.356
3	17	Will Davison	Ford Mustang GT	1'18.410	0.403	0.047
4	26	David Reynolds	Ford Mustang GT	1'18.548	0.542	0.138
5	7	Andre Heimgartner	Ford Mustang GT	1'18.716	0.710	0.168
6	18	Mark Winterbottom	Holden Commodore ZB	1'18.752	0.746	0.035
7	99	Brodie Kostecki	Holden Commodore ZB	1'18.835	0.829	0.082
8	11	Anton De Pasquale	Ford Mustang GT	1'18.862	0.856	0.027
9	25	Chaz Mostert	Holden Commodore ZB	1'18.912	0.905	0.049
10	6	Cameron Waters	Ford Mustang GT	1'18.977	0.970	0.064
View full results