Townsville Supercars: Percat, Hazelwood score shock poles
Brad Jones Racing duo Nick Percat and Todd Hazelwood scored a career-first pole each in two back-to-back qualifying sessions in Townsville.
The Holden squad was dominant across the two 10-minute sessions, four-time race winner Percat kicking things off by edging Scott McLaughlin by 0.08s in the first to bag the first pole of his career.
Percat then looked set to double his tally in the second session, going quickest on his very last lap. But there was a surprise coming from teammate Hazelwood, who pipped Percat by 0.02s just moments later.
That was after the third-year driver was a solid seventh fastest in the first session.
"Unbelievable. I think I lost my voice on the in-lap, I was cheering so hard," said Hazelwood. "It's a huge turnaround for BJR, we had our dramas yesterday but we knew we'd come back swinging today and we certainly proved that.
Percat added: "It's amazing. It's a massive Father's Day present for my engineer [Andrew Edwards] and my dad back in Adelaide.
"That first lap, to have a bit of margin to the field, I went into the next one thinking 'don't do anything silly, just replicate the lap'. I went a little bit quicker, but for Todd to sneak in there and grab us by 0.02s, it's mega to have a front-row lock-out for Brad and everyone at BJR."
After being pipped by Percat in the first session, McLaughlin's day took a turn for the worse in the second. The points leader came across a slow-moving Garry Jacobson at the end of his flying lap, the pair even making light contact on the exit of the final corner.
He estimated the scuffle cost him around three-tenths, McLaughlin left 10th on the grid for this afternoon's final heat.
Cam Waters was third and sixth in the two sessions, while Chaz Mostert recovered from a disappointing 13th in the first session to grab third in the second.
Jamie Whincup will start both races from fifth, teammate Shane van Gisbergen less consistent with a fourth and a 12th.
Qualifying Race 2 results
| Cla | # | Driver | Time | Gap | Interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 |  Nick Percat |
1'12.262 | ||
| 2 | 17 |  Scott McLaughlin |
1'12.342 | 0.079 | 0.079 |
| 3 | 6 | Cameron Waters |
1'12.429 | 0.166 | 0.086 |
| 4 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen |
1'12.472 | 0.210 | 0.043 |
| 5 | 88 | Jamie Whincup |
1'12.553 | 0.291 | 0.081 |
| 6 | 55 | Jack Le Brocq |
1'12.603 | 0.341 | 0.049 |
| 7 | 14 | Todd Hazelwood |
1'12.655 | 0.392 | 0.051 |
| 8 | 2 | Bryce Fullwood |
1'12.669 | 0.407 | 0.014 |
| 9 | 9 | David Reynolds |
1'12.737 | 0.475 | 0.067 |
| 10 | 5 | Lee Holdsworth |
1'12.743 | 0.481 | 0.006 |
| 11 | 20 | Scott Pye |
1'12.745 | 0.483 | 0.002 |
| 12 | 3 | Macauley Jones |
1'12.761 | 0.498 | 0.015 |
| 13 | 25 | Chaz Mostert |
1'12.775 | 0.513 | 0.014 |
| 14 | 35 | Garry Jacobson |
1'12.819 | 0.557 | 0.043 |
| 15 | 44 | James Courtney |
1'12.837 | 0.575 | 0.018 |
| 16 | 12 | Fabian Coulthard |
1'12.876 | 0.614 | 0.038 |
| 17 | 19 | Alex Davison |
1'12.968 | 0.706 | 0.092 |
| 18 | 15 | Rick Kelly |
1'13.015 | 0.753 | 0.047 |
| 19 | 18 | Mark Winterbottom |
1'13.035 | 0.773 | 0.019 |
| 20 | 22 | Chris Pither |
1'13.194 | 0.932 | 0.159 |
| 21 | 4 | Jack Smith |
1'13.210 | 0.948 | 0.016 |
| 22 | 34 | Jake Kostecki |
1'13.283 | 1.021 | 0.072 |
| 23 | 99 | Anton De Pasquale |
|||
| 24 | 7 | Andre Heimgartner |
|||
| View full results | |||||
Qualifying Race 3 results
| Cla | # | Driver | Time | Gap | Interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | Todd Hazelwood |
1'12.154 | ||
| 2 | 8 | Nick Percat |
1'12.176 | 0.022 | 0.022 |
| 3 | 25 | Chaz Mostert |
1'12.244 | 0.090 | 0.068 |
| 4 | 99 | Anton De Pasquale |
1'12.305 | 0.151 | 0.060 |
| 5 | 88 | Jamie Whincup |
1'12.337 | 0.182 | 0.031 |
| 6 | 6 | Cameron Waters |
1'12.338 | 0.184 | 0.001 |
| 7 | 5 | Lee Holdsworth |
1'12.407 | 0.253 | 0.069 |
| 8 | 55 | Jack Le Brocq |
1'12.437 | 0.283 | 0.030 |
| 9 | 44 | James Courtney |
1'12.442 | 0.288 | 0.004 |
| 10 | 17 | Scott McLaughlin |
1'12.459 | 0.305 | 0.017 |
| 11 | 2 | Bryce Fullwood |
1'12.498 | 0.344 | 0.038 |
| 12 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen |
1'12.501 | 0.347 | 0.003 |
| 13 | 19 | Alex Davison |
1'12.521 | 0.367 | 0.019 |
| 14 | 12 | Fabian Coulthard |
1'12.580 | 0.426 | 0.058 |
| 15 | 18 | Mark Winterbottom |
1'12.660 | 0.506 | 0.080 |
| 16 | 3 | Macauley Jones |
1'12.666 | 0.512 | 0.005 |
| 17 | 20 | Scott Pye |
1'12.755 | 0.600 | 0.088 |
| 18 | 7 | Andre Heimgartner |
1'12.763 | 0.608 | 0.008 |
| 19 | 9 | David Reynolds |
1'12.779 | 0.625 | 0.016 |
| 20 | 15 | Rick Kelly |
1'12.816 | 0.662 | 0.037 |
| 21 | 22 | Chris Pither |
1'12.837 | 0.683 | 0.021 |
| 22 | 34 | Jake Kostecki |
1'12.920 | 0.766 | 0.082 |
| 23 | 4 | Jack Smith |
1'13.164 | 1.010 | 0.244 |
| 24 | 35 | Garry Jacobson |
1'13.191 | 1.037 | 0.026 |
| View full results | |||||
Townsville Supercars: McLaughlin dominates opener
Jacobson "disgusted" after impeding McLaughlin
Why are Honda's Super Formula stars skipping Suzuka test?
Nine Honda-powered cars will be taking part in this week’s post-season Super Formula test at Suzuka, but Tomoki Nojiri, Tadasuke Makino and Toshiki Oyu are all absent. So what’s going on?
Grosjean joins Lamborghini ahead of 2024 LMDh drive
Former Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean will race Lamborghini’s new LMDh prototype from 2024.
Nissan trials four youngsters in GT500 'audition' test
Nissan trialled a quartet of young SUPER GT drivers in GT500 machinery on Monday at Fuji Speedway as it seeks to finalise its 2023 driver line-ups.
Supercars to randomly allocate Gen3 engines
Supercars will randomly allocate V8 motors to teams during the Gen3 era.
Why Courtney and Tickford are a dream match
James Courtney has been around the block in his motorsport career it's fair to say. After a single-seater career cut short, he's won everything there is to win in Supercars. Following a rocky ride recently in the Australian category, he's found a happy hunting ground with Tickford Racing.
How taming his temper shaped Supercars' slow-burn star
His decision to leave Brad Jones Racing was the biggest shock of the Australian Supercars silly season so far. But for Nick Percat, it comes as the culmination of a personal journey that has made him into one of the most rounded drivers in the series, now in search of a seat that can make him a champion
Why replacing Supercars' GOAT with a teenager is worth the risk for T8
On the face of it, picking an 18-year-old rookie to replace arguably the greatest Supercars driver of all time is a risky move. But as Jamie Whincup takes up a team principal role and hands his car to Broc Feeney, it's one that he is confident will be rewarded in the fullness of time - time which wasn't afforded to Whincup in his early days
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?
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...