Mostert and the FG X take top honors at V8 ‘SuperShootout’
The defending Bathurst champion ends the Ford ‘pole-drought’ and gives the marque their first pole position in over a year.
Photo by: Edge Photographics
It’s not every day that you see a young driver calling his own shots but Sunday was such a day. Leading up to the final event of the testing weekend the defending Bathurst champion, Chaz Mostert, felt confident heading into the one-lap shootout.
“I believe we have a pretty good race car and always have. That’s out biggest goal this year is to try and get a qualifying car,” Mostert explained. ““The SuperShootout is the main event so we will be working towards it to see if we can get up there.”
Get up there he did by beating out a field of drivers who were bringing their A-game to this event. With a time of 1:30.658, Mostert took the new FG X to the top of the charts, but there was a Kiwi in the hunt...
Van Gisbergen almost steals glory
Shane van Gisbergen, arguably one of the most aggressive drivers in the series, is also one of the fastest. As he took to the track for his flying lap, the crowd was on the edge of their seats as he looked to hunt down Mostert’s time. As he crossed the line, however, he had just missed out by a mind blowing 0.008 seconds.
James Courtney brought home third, followed by Mostert’s teammate, Mark Winterbottom. Between these four drivers, there was only a difference of just .05 seconds.
Scott McLaughlin once again carried the Volvo up towards the front by posting the fifth quickest time.
It was up to the six-time champion, Jamie Whincup, to pull an upset but he delivered a mediocre laptime to finish the event in 12th.
To the winner…
With Mostert taking the first pole position of 2015, he also brought home a handsome check for $2,500 as well as bragging rights for the time being.
Completing the top-ten were James Moffat, Jason Bright, Craig Lowndes, Fabian Coulthard and Garth Tander.
Taking it easy
Due to the hot weather conditions, drivers were advised to be cautious as the track was described by many as being very slippery.
"Pretty slick conditions,” said Erebus Motorsports driver, Ash Walsh. “Pretty sure it is the hardest shootout I'll ever do."
Nissan Motorsports came out swinging once again with Michael Caruso and James Moffat posting fast times early on. However, their teammate, Todd Kelly, finished down on the order due to him going very wide into Turn 4. Additionally, Caruso later had his time revoked after failing to arrive at the pit exit when required.
Bring on Clipsal
With testing now complete, the teams will be looking to evaluate all of the data gathered over the long and hot weekend in an effort to prepare for the first race of the year. The Clipsal 500 will be the first point-scoring event of 2015 and is scheduled from February 26 – March 1.
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