Albert Park Supercars: Coulthard takes three poles, one for Whincup

JR Team Penske driver Coulthard was comfortably fastest in practice earlier today, and proved that it was no fluke by dominating three of the four 10-minute qualifying sessions.

The all-new format saw Supercars drivers qualify for each individual race separately, with the entire grid for each hit-out determined by a 10-minute session.

And Coulthard came out on top three out of four times, beating teammate Scott McLaughlin by 0.2s in Session 1, McLaughin again by 0.1s in Session 2, and Jamie Whincup by 0.4s in Session 3.

He also smashed the unofficial lap record in the process, putting the new-spec Dunlop super soft tyres to good use to record a new benchmark of 1m54.392s in the first of the four sessions.

Whincup then grabbed Race 4 pole in the final session, denying Coulthard a qualifying clean sweep by just 0.02s despite a brush with the wall over at Turn 8.

The Triple Eight driver will start from the outside of the front row in Race 3, and on the second row for Races 1 and 2 with a third and a fourth.

Tim Slade bagged himself a couple of thirds, one for the first race and other for the fourth. But he failed to set a time in the second session, and will start that race from the back of the grid.

Shane van Gisbergen was consistently, but couldn’t trouble the frontrunners. The points leader bagged a two sixths, a seventh, and 25th after not setting a representative time in the third session.

David Reynolds was impressive across all four sessions, finishing with a best of fifth in the first, and a worst of ninth in Sessions 2 and 4.

Chaz Mostert was Prodrive’s best performer, with three fourths and a sixth, while Nissan charge was led by Michael Caruso, who wound up with an eighth, a fifth, and a pair of sevenths.