Sandown Supercars: Van Gisbergen sweeps Sunday poles
Shane van Gisbergen will start both of today's Supercars races from pole position after dominating two wet qualifying sessions.
The first session started in light-but-consistent rain, the red flag coming out before anybody had time to set a lap.
The culprit was Jake Kostecki, who ended up beached in the gravel at Turn 1, complaining of a stuck throttle over the radio.
When the session got going it was the Triple Eight cars that set the pace, Jamie Whincup leading initially with a 1m18.566s before van Gisbergen took over with a 1m18.327s.
That was followed by a nervous moment for the Race 1 winner, who bounced over a kerb at Turn 2, spun through Turn 3 an ended up facing the wrong way on the entry to Turn 4.
Had that prompted a red flag he would have lost his fastest time and been booted out of the session, however van Gisbergen was able to get going under his own steam to avoid a stoppage.
That effectively sealed Race 2 pole for van Gisbergen ahead of Whincup, Chaz Mostert and Cam Waters.
The rain eased but the track stayed wet for the second session, van Gisbergen leading from start to finish.
He continued to improve along the way, starting at a 1m18.606s and ending with a pole-winning 1m18.006s.
"[The car] was awesome to drive," he said. "Following [the DJR cars] out I could tell we had plenty of grip. It's just learning the lines and trying to follow the train tracks, but the car was awesome in both sessions.
"Normally I don't like the rain but today it wasn't a bad thing. Hopefully the weather is easy, it's one or the other, rain or dry. When it's in between it gets tricky."
Whincup was second again in the second session, followed by Will Davison and David Reynolds, that pair posting their best qualifying results since making off-season team switches.
Mostert and Waters were unable to match their efforts from the first session, the pair slumping to ninth and 10th respectively in the second.
Qualifying results for Race 2
| Cla | # | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 97 |  Shane van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore ZB | 1'18.327 | ||
| 2 | 88 |  Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore ZB | 1'18.566 | 0.239 | 0.239 |
| 3 | 25 | Chaz Mostert | Holden Commodore ZB | 1'18.807 | 0.480 | 0.240 |
| 4 | 6 | Cameron Waters | Ford Mustang GT | 1'18.993 | 0.666 | 0.186 |
| 5 | 7 | Andre Heimgartner | Ford Mustang GT | 1'19.110 | 0.783 | 0.117 |
| 6 | 44 | James Courtney | Ford Mustang GT | 1'19.144 | 0.817 | 0.033 |
| 7 | 17 | Will Davison | Ford Mustang GT | 1'19.264 | 0.937 | 0.119 |
| 8 | 11 | Anton De Pasquale | Ford Mustang GT | 1'19.283 | 0.956 | 0.019 |
| 9 | 26 | David Reynolds | Ford Mustang GT | 1'19.416 | 1.089 | 0.132 |
| 10 | 8 | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore ZB | 1'19.437 | 1.110 | 0.021 |
| View full results | ||||||
Qualifying results for Race 3
| Cla | # | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore ZB | 1'18.006 | ||
| 2 | 88 | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore ZB | 1'18.363 | 0.356 | 0.356 |
| 3 | 17 | Will Davison | Ford Mustang GT | 1'18.410 | 0.403 | 0.047 |
| 4 | 26 | David Reynolds | Ford Mustang GT | 1'18.548 | 0.542 | 0.138 |
| 5 | 7 | Andre Heimgartner | Ford Mustang GT | 1'18.716 | 0.710 | 0.168 |
| 6 | 18 | Mark Winterbottom | Holden Commodore ZB | 1'18.752 | 0.746 | 0.035 |
| 7 | 99 | Brodie Kostecki | Holden Commodore ZB | 1'18.835 | 0.829 | 0.082 |
| 8 | 11 | Anton De Pasquale | Ford Mustang GT | 1'18.862 | 0.856 | 0.027 |
| 9 | 25 | Chaz Mostert | Holden Commodore ZB | 1'18.912 | 0.905 | 0.049 |
| 10 | 6 | Cameron Waters | Ford Mustang GT | 1'18.977 | 0.970 | 0.064 |
| View full results | ||||||
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