Sydney Supercars: McLaughlin equals Whincup’s pole record

The DJR Team Penske driver put yesterday’s dramas behind him to go quickest on his first run with a 1m28.340s, and while that would have been good enough for pole, he found even more time on his second run with a 1m28.225s.

That ensured a seventh consecutive pole position for McLaughlin and a 13th for the season, equalling the record number of poles set by Whincup back in 2013.

“Once the penalty was laid down I just wanted to get on with things; what happened yesterday was done,” said McLaughlin.

“We’ve got a long way to go. Sitting back in the car, that’s my happy place in there, no one can annoy me or anything. it was the best placed for me, the best remedy.”

Chaz Mostert will start on the outside of the front row, setting his 1m28.359s on his first run and failing to improve on his second.

Jamie Whincup did improve on his final run, dropping from a 1m28.718s to a 1m28.534s. While it didn’t automatically translate to a position change, Whincup having sat third after the first runs anyway, it did mean he wasn’t swallowed up by teammate Shane van Gisbergen, who made up 13 spots on his final run to go fourth fastest.

Yesterday’s race winner Fabian Coulthard was fifth fastest after finding a couple of tenths on his final run, while both Michael Caruso and Mark Winterbottom also improved at the end to qualifying sixth and seventh.

It was an action-packed session for Winterbottom, who was forced into the garage for repairs after clashing with Garth Tander at Turn 2. The pair exchanged heated words in the garage following the session.

Nick Percat qualified eighth ahead of Brad Jones Racing teammate Tim Slade, with Jason Bright rounding out the Top 10 in the #56 Prodrive Ford.

Cla	#	Driver	Car	Time	Gap
1	17	Scott McLaughlin	Ford Falcon FG-X	1'28.2259
2	55	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG-X	1'28.3593	0.1334
3	88	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore VF	1'28.5348	0.3089
4	97	Shane van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore VF	1'28.6090	0.3831
5	12	Fabian Coulthard	Ford Falcon FG/X	1'28.7702	0.5443
6	23	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	1'28.8046	0.5787
7	5	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG-X	1'28.8706	0.6447
8	8	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore VF	1'28.9192	0.6933
9	14	Tim Slade	Holden Commodore VF	1'28.9565	0.7306
10	56	Jason Bright	Ford Falcon FG-X	1'28.9815	0.7556
11	18	Lee Holdsworth	Holden Commodore VF	1'29.0166	0.7907
12	9	David Reynolds	Holden Commodore VF	1'29.0189	0.7930
13	7	Todd Kelly	Nissan Altima	1'29.0460	0.8201
14	888	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore VF	1'29.0597	0.8338
15	6	Cameron Waters	Ford Falcon FG-X	1'29.0655	0.8396
16	95	Will Davison	Holden Commodore VF	1'29.1110	0.8851
17	15	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	1'29.1204	0.8945
18	2	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore VF	1'29.1653	0.9394
19	22	James Courtney	Holden Commodore VF	1'29.2745	1.0486
20	34	James Moffat	Holden Commodore VF	1'29.3135	1.0876
21	33	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore VF	1'29.4766	1.2507
22	78	Simona de Silvestro	Nissan Altima	1'29.5750	1.3491
23	21	Tim Blanchard	Holden Commodore VF	1'29.6305	1.4046
24	99	Dale Wood	Holden Commodore VF	1'29.7219	1.4960
25	62	Alex Rullo	Holden Commodore VF	1'30.1769	1.9510
26	3	Alex Davison	Holden Commodore VF	1'30.2604	2.0345