Winton Supercars: McLaughlin beats Mostert to pole
Scott McLaughlin beat Chaz Mostert to pole for Saturday’s race at Winton.
Photo by: DJR Team Penske
The DJR Team Penske driver ran slightly out of sequence across the two runs, slotting into sixth right at the end of the first run with a 1m19.992s.
He then fired into the pits just minutes from the end of the session for a fresh set of rubber, before blasting to pole with a 1m19.380s right at the flag.
“It was all part of the plan,” said McLaughlin about his last-gasp lap.
“It was pretty rushed there, I was trying to get a nice gap. There was a bit of traffic, I was lucky to hang on.
“I was pretty pumped after that one, when you work for it, it makes it good. I was a really good lap, I put everything together. It’s a good place to be.”
McLaughlin’s time bumped Chaz Mostert back to second, the Prodrive Racing Australia driver having made up 10 spots on his final lap to temporarily sit in P1 with a 1m19.544s.
Shane van Gisbergen edged teammate Jamie Whincup to go third fastest, the Kiwi falling just 0.03s short of Mostert.
“It’s the first time we ran new tyres, so I’m quite happy with that,” said van Gisbergen. “The guys in front are a little bit quicker still, buy yeah, we’re in with a shot.”
Like his teammate Fabian Coulthard went for the last-second lap, but could only improve to fifth on his final run despite setting a purple first sector. That dropped Brad Jones Racing driver Nick Percat to the outside of the third row, with Rick Kelly leading the way for Nissan in seventh and Will Davison in eighth.
Mark Winterbottom and Cam Waters made it three PRA Fords in the Top 10 by locking out the fifth row.
Wildcard entry James Golding put in an impressive performance, out-qualifying Garry Rogers Motorsport regular James Moffat on his way to 18th on the grid.
The young gun also finished ahead of Craig Lowndes, the veteran not only struggling to match his Triple Eight teammates but a long way from even troubling the Top 10, finishing up down in P19.
Cla | # | Driver | Car | Time | km/h |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 17 | Scott McLaughlin | Ford Falcon FG-X | 1'19.3807 | 136.053 |
2 | 55 | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG-X | 1'19.5447 | 135.772 |
3 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 1'19.5747 | 135.721 |
4 | 88 | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 1'19.6454 | 135.601 |
5 | 12 | Fabian Coulthard | Ford Falcon FG-X | 1'19.7619 | 135.402 |
6 | 8 | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | 1'19.8698 | 135.220 |
7 | 15 | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1'19.9055 | 135.159 |
8 | 19 | Will Davison | Holden Commodore VF | 1'19.9425 | 135.097 |
9 | 5 | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG-X | 1'19.9448 | 135.093 |
10 | 6 | Cameron Waters | Ford Falcon FG-X | 1'19.9705 | 135.049 |
11 | 7 | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1'19.9961 | 135.006 |
12 | 18 | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VF | 1'20.0261 | 134.955 |
13 | 33 | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 1'20.1508 | 134.746 |
14 | 9 | David Reynolds | Holden Commodore VF | 1'20.1716 | 134.711 |
15 | 14 | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 1'20.1864 | 134.686 |
16 | 56 | Jason Bright | Ford Falcon FG-X | 1'20.2024 | 134.659 |
17 | 23 | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 1'20.2208 | 134.628 |
18 | 31 | James Golding | Holden Commodore VF | 1'20.2867 | 134.517 |
19 | 888 | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 1'20.2894 | 134.513 |
20 | 4 | Macauley Jones | Holden Commodore VF | 1'20.2901 | 134.512 |
21 | 2 | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore VF | 1'20.3439 | 134.422 |
22 | 21 | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VF | 1'20.3995 | 134.329 |
23 | 22 | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 1'20.4620 | 134.224 |
24 | 78 | Simona de Silvestro | Nissan Altima | 1'20.4749 | 134.203 |
25 | 34 | James Moffat | Holden Commodore VF | 1'20.9073 | 133.486 |
26 | 99 | Dale Wood | Holden Commodore VF | 1'20.9762 | 133.372 |
27 | 26 | Shae Davies | Nissan Altima | 1'21.0538 | 133.244 |
28 | 3 | Taz Douglas | Holden Commodore VF | 1'21.1823 | 133.033 |
29 | 62 | Alex Rullo | Holden Commodore VF | 1'21.4057 | 132.668 |
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