Phillip Island V8s: McLaughlin edges Mostert out for pole

The Volvo driver was right on throughout the 15-minute session, jumping to the top on the first run with a 1m30.642s.

That lap was then eclipsed by Chaz Mostert on the second run, a 1m30.505s putting the Prodrive driver in P1, before McLaughlin improved to a 1m30.488s on his second run to secure pole.

“I was wheeling it,” McLaughlin told Fox Sports right after the session. “That was so much fun; the car is amazing. I knew it would be close.”

Mostert, having not raced at Phillip Island since the latter stages of the 2014 season, was happy enough with P2.

“Fantastic. We didn’t know there we were coming out of practice,” he said. “To be P2, I’m pretty ecstatic.”

Mostert’s team-mate Mark Winterbottom finished third after only making a very narrow improvement on his second run, with Red Bull Racing Australia pair Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen in fourth and fifth, the Kiwi making a small mistake at MG on his crucial final lap.

Nissan’s Michael Caruso jumped 11 spots on his second run to claim P6, ahead of Craig Lowndes and James Moffat, who recorded his best qualifying result since joining Volvo with P8.

The biggest shock of the session was Will Davison. The Tasmania winner (and points leader) struggled with massive oversteer, and could only manage 20th.

“I’m not shocked to see where we at,” he said. “[We] just fell out of the window. I know you don’t have to miss by much to be sitting where we are.”