Darwin Supercars: McLaughlin, van Gisbergen share poles
Scott McLaughlin and Shane van Gisbergen took a pole position each from a thrilling battle across the back-to-back Sunday sessions.
There was little between the two Kiwis in both 10-minute sessions, McLaughlin getting the better of his rival in the first to the tune of just 0.05s to grab pole for Race 2.
Van Gisbergen then hit back in fine style in the second session, tucking in behind Fabian Coulthard to get a tow that helped him pip McLaughlin by 0.03s for the Race 3 pole.
For van Gisbergen the strong performance vindicated the decision to change his motor overnight.
"It's awesome. I have to thank the guys, they put in a big effort changing the motor last night, and then [engineer Grant McPherson] going through the set-up," said van Gisbergen.
"We just had to go back to basics. The car was awesome. Right from when I left pitlane we were up the front again."
Team 18 continued its strong showing, Scott Pye qualifying an impressive third, two spots ahead of teammate Mark Winterbottom, for the first race.
Pye dropped back to eighth in the second session after a small mistake on his lap, Winterbottom providing the heroics with a third of his own.
Jamie Whincup didn't trouble the front-runners in either session, the Triple Eight driver facing eighth and seventh place starts in the two races.
Fabian Coulthard, meanwhile, dropped 10 places between the sessions, the Penske driver qualifying sixth for Race 2 and 16th for Race 3.
Qualifying Race 2 results
| Cla | # | Driver | Time | Gap | Interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 |  Scott McLaughlin | 1'06.258 | ||
| 2 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | 1'06.315 | 0.056 | 0.056 |
| 3 | 20 |  Scott Pye | 1'06.364 | 0.105 | 0.049 |
| 4 | 6 | Cameron Waters | 1'06.392 | 0.133 | 0.028 |
| 5 | 18 | Mark Winterbottom | 1'06.405 | 0.147 | 0.013 |
| 6 | 12 | Fabian Coulthard | 1'06.444 | 0.186 | 0.038 |
| 7 | 8 | Nick Percat | 1'06.506 | 0.247 | 0.061 |
| 8 | 88 | Jamie Whincup | 1'06.536 | 0.278 | 0.030 |
| 9 | 7 | Andre Heimgartner | 1'06.544 | 0.285 | 0.007 |
| 10 | 44 | James Courtney | 1'06.589 | 0.330 | 0.044 |
| 11 | 5 | Lee Holdsworth | 1'06.697 | 0.439 | 0.108 |
| 12 | 25 | Chaz Mostert | 1'06.720 | 0.462 | 0.022 |
| 13 | 99 | Anton De Pasquale | 1'06.729 | 0.470 | 0.008 |
| 14 | 15 | Rick Kelly | 1'06.742 | 0.484 | 0.013 |
| 15 | 55 | Jack Le Brocq | 1'06.762 | 0.503 | 0.019 |
| 16 | 3 | Macauley Jones | 1'06.778 | 0.520 | 0.016 |
| 17 | 9 | David Reynolds | 1'06.825 | 0.566 | 0.046 |
| 18 | 14 | Todd Hazelwood | 1'06.828 | 0.569 | 0.003 |
| 19 | 2 | Bryce Fullwood | 1'06.876 | 0.618 | 0.048 |
| 20 | 35 | Garry Jacobson | 1'06.969 | 0.711 | 0.092 |
| 21 | 22 | Chris Pither | 1'07.110 | 0.852 | 0.141 |
| 22 | 19 | Alex Davison | 1'07.293 | 1.034 | 0.182 |
| 23 | 34 | Zane Goddard | 1'07.393 | 1.134 | 0.099 |
| 24 | 4 | Jack Smith | 1'07.430 | 1.171 | 0.037 |
| View full results | |||||
Qualifying Race 3 results
| Cla | # | Driver | Time | Gap | Interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | 1'06.289 | ||
| 2 | 17 | Scott McLaughlin | 1'06.319 | 0.030 | 0.030 |
| 3 | 18 | Mark Winterbottom | 1'06.322 | 0.032 | 0.002 |
| 4 | 8 | Nick Percat | 1'06.353 | 0.063 | 0.030 |
| 5 | 25 | Chaz Mostert | 1'06.419 | 0.129 | 0.066 |
| 6 | 6 | Cameron Waters | 1'06.435 | 0.145 | 0.015 |
| 7 | 88 | Jamie Whincup | 1'06.447 | 0.158 | 0.012 |
| 8 | 20 | Scott Pye | 1'06.510 | 0.220 | 0.062 |
| 9 | 99 | Anton De Pasquale | 1'06.517 | 0.227 | 0.007 |
| 10 | 7 | Andre Heimgartner | 1'06.528 | 0.238 | 0.011 |
| 11 | 5 | Lee Holdsworth | 1'06.548 | 0.258 | 0.019 |
| 12 | 9 | David Reynolds | 1'06.565 | 0.275 | 0.017 |
| 13 | 2 | Bryce Fullwood | 1'06.575 | 0.286 | 0.010 |
| 14 | 44 | James Courtney | 1'06.639 | 0.349 | 0.063 |
| 15 | 55 | Jack Le Brocq | 1'06.683 | 0.393 | 0.043 |
| 16 | 12 | Fabian Coulthard | 1'06.700 | 0.410 | 0.017 |
| 17 | 14 | Todd Hazelwood | 1'06.706 | 0.416 | 0.006 |
| 18 | 35 | Garry Jacobson | 1'06.730 | 0.440 | 0.023 |
| 19 | 19 | Alex Davison | 1'06.802 | 0.513 | 0.072 |
| 20 | 15 | Rick Kelly | 1'06.823 | 0.533 | 0.020 |
| 21 | 22 | Chris Pither | 1'06.843 | 0.554 | 0.020 |
| 22 | 34 | Zane Goddard | 1'06.858 | 0.568 | 0.014 |
| 23 | 3 | Macauley Jones | 1'06.947 | 0.657 | 0.088 |
| 24 | 4 | Jack Smith | 1'07.486 | 1.196 | 0.539 |
| View full results | |||||
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