Townsville Supercars: De Pasquale beats Waters to pole
Anton De Pasquale beat Cam Waters in a crash-affected Top 10 Shootout on the streets of Townsville.
The three-part qualifying boiled down to an all-Mustang battle, with De Pasquale, Waters and Will Davison the only drivers to get under the 1m13s mark in the single-lap dash for pole.
The fastest sectors were shared between the three, but it was De Pasquale that was best across the whole lap, a 1m12.639s securing pole for today's opening sprint race.
"That was really cool," he said.
"It's tight, they're going to make us work for it this afternoon so I'm looking forward to it.
"I thought I threw it away because I hit the fence at the start of qualifying and it was a bit bent at the front, but it didn't make a difference."
Jamie Whincup and Chaz Mostert were the best of the Holdens in fourth and fifth, while runaway series leader Shane van Gisbergen was just sixth fastest. The Kiwi was left fuming over confusion on his out-lap after Zane Goddard hit the wall during his Shootout effort.
"It was shit," said van Gisbergen. "The guy crashed and there was no info from race control. I got told to pit, and then had no tyre temp, and got told to go. That's pretty confusing and not very good."
Brad Jones Racing pair Nick Percat and Todd Hazelwood qualified seventh and eighth ahead of James Courtney.
Goddard, meanwhile, put his Shootout crash down to driver error.
"At the last corner I went to grab the brake and just missed it and went straight onto the throttle," he explained. "By the time I got back onto the brake it was too late. Pretty embarrassing, but at least the car is fast."
He'll start today's race from 10th.
| Cla | # | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 |  Anton De Pasquale | Ford Mustang GT | 1'12.639 | ||
| 2 | 6 | Cameron Waters | Ford Mustang GT | 1'12.806 | 0.167 | 0.167 |
| 3 | 17 | Will Davison | Ford Mustang GT | 1'12.835 | 0.196 | 0.028 |
| 4 | 88 | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore ZB | 1'13.035 | 0.395 | 0.199 |
| 5 | 25 | Chaz Mostert | Holden Commodore ZB | 1'13.118 | 0.479 | 0.083 |
| 6 | 97 |  Shane van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore ZB | 1'13.245 | 0.605 | 0.126 |
| 7 | 8 | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore ZB | 1'13.383 | 0.743 | 0.138 |
| 8 | 14 | Todd Hazelwood | Holden Commodore ZB | 1'13.398 | 0.759 | 0.015 |
| 9 | 44 | James Courtney | Ford Mustang GT | 1'13.652 | 1.012 | 0.253 |
| 10 | 35 | Zane Goddard | Holden Commodore ZB | 1'13.190 | 0.550 | |
| 11 | 99 | Brodie Kostecki | Holden Commodore ZB | 1'13.273 | 0.633 | 0.083 |
| 12 | 9 | Will Brown | Holden Commodore ZB | 1'13.402 | 0.762 | 0.128 |
| 13 | 5 | Jack Le Brocq | Ford Mustang GT | 1'13.402 | 0.762 | 0.000 |
| 14 | 18 | Mark Winterbottom | Holden Commodore ZB | 1'13.424 | 0.784 | 0.022 |
| 15 | 26 | David Reynolds | Ford Mustang GT | 1'13.433 | 0.793 | 0.008 |
| 16 | 7 | Andre Heimgartner | Ford Mustang GT | 1'13.442 | 0.803 | 0.009 |
| 17 | 96 | Macauley Jones | Holden Commodore ZB | 1'13.446 | 0.806 | 0.003 |
| 18 | 20 | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore ZB | 1'13.517 | 0.877 | 0.070 |
| 19 | 3 | Tim Slade | Ford Mustang GT | 1'13.561 | 0.922 | 0.044 |
| 20 | 19 | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore ZB | 1'13.759 | 1.119 | 0.197 |
| 21 | 2 | Bryce Fullwood | Holden Commodore ZB | 1'13.638 | 0.998 | |
| 22 | 34 | Jake Kostecki | Holden Commodore ZB | 1'13.649 | 1.009 | 0.010 |
| 23 | 4 | Jack Smith | Holden Commodore ZB | 1'13.733 | 1.094 | 0.084 |
| 24 | 22 | Garry Jacobson | Holden Commodore ZB | 1'13.916 | 1.277 | 0.183 |
| View full results | ||||||
Previous article
Townsville Supercars: Pye sets practice pace
Next article
Townsville Supercars: Waters wins action-packed opener
How Randle went from fighting cancer to battling for Supercars contention
After his fledgling career was paused by a battle with testicular cancer, Thomas Randle then had to wrestle with finding a drive in Supercars after he got the all-clear. It's been a long road for the Melbourne native but, after two lengthy battles, he's finally got a full-time drive to look forward to
How crisis talks over Supercars’ Gen3 future could leave it without a paddle
With Supercars’ Gen3 era on the horizon, a shift is set to take place – in more ways than one – but, as has become clear in recent weeks, the plan to bin the stick and use paddles with electronic assisted shift has been met with fierce opposition
Can DJR still be a Supercars powerhouse after Penske?
Roger Penske's whirlwind Australian Supercars sojourn is over. After six seasons, three drivers' titles, three teams' championships and a Bathurst 1000 crown, The Captain has sold his controlling stake in Dick Johnson Racing back to the squad and walked away from the category.
Can Whincup be Triple Eight's ruthless leader?
Supercars' most successful team of the past 15 years is set for a radical shakeup next year when Jamie Whincup retires from driving and takes over the reins at Triple Eight. But does he have what it takes to be the new Roland Dane?
How a lifetime Supercars deal broke down in one year
David Reynolds inked what was effectively a lifetime deal with Erebus in 2019 – only to walk out a year later. What went wrong?
Why Supercars now needs a new "human salt harvester"
Scott McLaughlin has been a controversial figure in Supercars over the past few years but, as he heads off to a fresh challenge in IndyCar, the Australian tin-top series needs to find someone else to fill his drama-filled boots as the category enters a new era...
Why 2020 isn't McLaughlin's greatest title
Scott McLaughlin was quick to describe his third Supercars title as his best yet. But even though it didn't match the dramatic backstory of his 2018 triumph, there's a good reason for him wanting to control the narrative this time around.
Why a Bathurst finale is risky business for Supercars
The Bathurst Grand Final may provide Supercars its greatest spectacle yet – but there's a risk it will force the series to face a hard truth.
