Albert Park Supercars: De Pasquale, van Gisbergen split poles

De Pasquale topped a hectic first 15-minute session run on the hard compound Dunlops.

The Shell Ford driver led the way early in the session, only to be shuffled back as times tumbled into the mid-1m49s late in the session.

However he was able to charge back to the top right at the flag with a 1m49.316s amid a flurry of late improvements.

That time left him four-hundredths clear of Brodie Kostecki, while Shane van Gisbergen – who missed Practice 2 after hitting the wall in Practice 1 – survived another brush with the wall in Qualifying 1 to end up third.

"Much better end of the grid for us," said De Pasquale after a tough Newcastle where he didn't finish either qualifying or race in the top 10.

"It's good because the whole team has been working pretty hard; the lights in the workshop haven't turned off since the last one. It's good to be at the front and reward them with a pole."

Chaz Mostert popped up in fourth at the end of the session, his margin to pole just seven hundredths, as Cam Waters, who led the way heading into the final minute of the session, was shuffled back to fifth.

Will Brown qualified sixth for Race 1 followed by Jack Le Brocq and Broc Feeney.

Albert Park debutant Matt Payne put in a fine performance to qualify ninth, eight spots to the good of teammate David Reynolds, while Nick Percat banked his first top 10 qualifying result since Bathurst last year with 10th.

Mark Winterbottom looked to be on for a decent result in that first session with his first run putting him well inside the Top 10.

However he tagged the wall on the exit of Turn 5 on his next run, the subsequent suspension damage ruling him out of the rest of the session and leaving him 17th on the grid for Race 1.

The second session, run on the super softs, became a battle between Triple Eight and Erebus Motorsport.

Brown set the early pace on the softer rubber to lead the way with a 1m47.425s, which left him a tenth clear of van Gisbergen.

Feeney was then able to jump to the top to kick off the critical final runs with a 1m47.332s, before Brown hit back right on the flag 1m47.273s.

But just when it looked like a second career pole for Brown, van Gisbergen jumped to the top with a 1m47.253s – despite having not run the super softs at all in practice.

"I can't thank the guys enough," said van Gisbergen.

"I made an error this morning and to fix it up, miss a practice... I have to thank the #88 car too, they did some good work in P2. We just went to their set-up [for qualifying], basically.

"It's pretty amazing. The car is really good, it means a lot to come back like that."

That dropped Feeney to third on the grid with Brodie Kostecki fourth in his Erebus Camaro.

Winterbottom recovered from his Qualifying 1 crash with fifth on the grid for Race 2 to make it an all-Camaro top five.

Reynolds then led a hoard of Mustangs from sixth onwards ahead of Waters, Will Davison, James Courtney, and Mostert.

De Pasquale, meanwhile, could manage just 11th on the grid for Race 2.

Tim Slade will start the first two races from the back of the grid after not making it out for either qualifying session.

That was thanks to the Practice 1 crash that left his PremiAir Camaro badly damaged.

The first of four sprint races kicks off at 5:45pm local time.