Scott McLaughlin takes second Bathurst pole, smashes own lap record
Provisional pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin has secured the top spot ahead of tomorrow’s Supercars Championship Bathurst 1000 race after taking pole thanks to a new lap record in the Top Ten Shootout.
The DJR Team Penske driver was able to clock up his second pole at Mount Panorama after repeating his efforts of 2017, beating his own practice lap record which was set in yesterday’s practice session.
McLaughlin was the last on track after going quickest in the wet qualifying outing yesterday afternoon, making use of the dry and cool conditions to set the fastest Supercars lap of the circuit, some four tenths quicker than his mammoth effort from two years prior.
Rolling out first on track as the rain cloud slowly rolled in, Anton de Pasquale hit the circuit for his second shootout appearance in his second attempt at the 1000. Setting the benchmark, the Erebus Motorsport driver posted a lap of 2:04.3830 for the other nine drivers to chase.
In his first shootout for Team 18 and first not in a Ford, 2013 Bathurst champion Mark Winterbottom went out for his shootout lap. Two scrappy opening sectors put him four-tenths of a second down on de Pasquale before getting onto Conrod straight, finishing his lap in 2:04.9800, six-tenths behind the Erebus machine.
Scraping into the top ten in qualifying thanks to a crank angle sensor issue on Friday, Cam Waters set out for de Pasquale’s time in his Tickford Racing Mustang. Two blistering first sectors put him well up to close the lap, his time of 2:03.9178 nearly half a second faster than the de Pasquale, moving to provisional pole.
Making his first shootout appearance behind the wheel of the #888 since 2008, Jamie Whincup was next in the queue, qualifying the car he shares with seven-time and defending Bathurst champion, Craig Lowndes. Posting the fastest first sector of the weekend, Whincup lost time over the top, coming home just over three-hundredths down on Waters.
2011 Bathurst champion Nick Percat was up next for Brad Jones Racing, notching up his second shootout appearance. A clean but ultimately slow lap put Percat into fourth provisionally, slotting between de Pasquale and Winterbottom.
Percat’s BJR team-mate and fellow South Australian Tim Slade was next on track, looking to get ahead of the other Albury-built car on the grid. Similar to Percat, Slade struggled in the opening sectors, ending up a tenth down in Percat but still ahead of Winterbottom.
Two-time Bathurst winner Will Davison was the second Ford Mustang on track, giving team owner Phil Munday his first shootout for the 23Red Racing, Tickford prepared car. Improving on an average middle sector, Davison’s lap was good enough to slot in between Whincup and Davison.
In his ninth straight shootout after starting an unbroken streak in 2011, Shane van Gisbergen took on the Mountain in the Triple Eight #97 entry. The 2014 polesitter was unable to repeat his feat from five years ago, a 2:04.1136 moving him just behind team-mate Whincup and missing out on his first lap of 2:03.
Setting off as the penultimate runner, 2014 race winner Chaz Mostert set off to attack the Mountain, trying to claim a first shootout pole in his career. The fastest middle and closing sector of the session so far promoted Mostert to provisional pole with a 2:03.7897, just over a tenth up on Tickford team-mate Waters.
Finally, the last car started its lap. Scott McLaughlin took pole in 2017 and the new practice lap record yesterday, chasing Mostert’s time in his DJR Team Penske Mustang. The Kiwi was three tenths up in the first sector and extended the gap across the top, coming across the line four tenths clear of Mostert with his lap of 2:03.3783.
With the shootout finished, McLaughlin, Mostert and Waters make it a Mustang sweep across the top three with the Triple Eight cars of Whincup and van Gisbergen rounding out the top five. Davison lines up on row six as de Pasquale, Percat, Slade and Winterbottom complete the first five rows.
Tomorrow’s Bathurst 1000 will get underway at 11:30 local time, running to 161 laps around Australia’s most iconic circuit. McLaughlin is chasing his first win and the first for DJR since 1994.
