Chaz Mostert on provisional pole ahead of Saturday Top Ten Shootout
Chaz Mostert will roll out as the last car on track for the Supercars Championship Top Ten Shootout at today’s Gold Coast 600 after putting in one last flying lap to move to the top of the timesheets.
The Tickford Racing driver was consistently near the top of the order throughout the session but only made his mark after the chequered flag had come out, setting fastest sectors towards the end of the lap to claim provisional pole.
Track temperatures for the start of qualifying were up on Friday’s running despite the 20 minute session being held earlier in the day, forcing teams to make quick adjustments on the fly.
The opening flying lap for the first drivers on track saw them get caught out by slower traffic as they completed their first tour. Both Triple Eight cars of Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen had to abort their laps while Scott McLaughlin tried to push on in his DJR Team Penske entry, being able to record a respectable lap time despite the traffic.
As the championship leader tried to push on for a second lap, McLaughlin went too hot into the first chicane, tagging the outside tyre wall and causing cosmetic damage to his Mustang, coming back to the pits for fresh tyres and race tape to patch up the car.
The #17 car looked to be drawn to the walls as McLaughlin tagged the first chicane and the exit of the beachside chicane towards the end of the session, luckily not damaging the Mustang but showing the commitment needed to go fast around the daunting circuit.
On the last lap of the session, van Gisbergen moved to provisional pole but only momentarily, losing the spot to Mostert seconds later as the Tickford driver posted the fastest lap of the session to secure the top spot on the timesheets.
Van Gisbergen finished the session in second with McLaughlin in third, getting a kerb strike on his last lap. Whincup and Holdsworth made it into the top five with Tickford’s third car of Cam Waters in sixth.
Fabian Coulthard made it both DJR Team Penske cars in the ten, qualifying ahead of the only Nissan, driven by Andre Heimgartner, as the Erebus Motorsport entry of David Reynolds and Walkinshaw Andretti United’s James Courtney rounded out the top ten.
The Top Ten Shootout will commence at 11:30 local time, finalising the grid ahead of this afternoon’s first 300km race at 15:00 Australian Eastern Standard Time.
