Bathurst 1000: Holdsworth takes provisional pole

The Tickford driver timed his run to perfection, squeezing his lap right in between a mid-session red flag and a late shower of rain.

The stoppage was courtesy of Jake Kostecki firing into the wall on the way down the hill, coming right as Jamie Whincup has just gone quickest with a 2m04.266s.

Conditions actually improved as the Kostecki car was cleared, increasing cloud cover setting up a fascinating 20-minute showdown for a spot in tomorrow's Shootout.

McLaughlin swiftly lowered the benchmark to a 2m04.103s, before Shane van Gisbergen went quicker again with a 2m04.035s.

The Kiwi was then trumped by Holdsworth's 2m04.024s.

That time wasn't immediately safe, coming with plenty of time for a final run as conditions continued to cool.

But right as a number of contenders went out for one last crack the heavens opened, a burst of rain at the top of the Mountain sealing provisional pole for Holdsworth and co-driver Michael Caruso.

"I've still got the Shootout tomorrow, but this is my first provisional pole at Bathurst," said Holdsworth. 

"We'll string it all together tomorrow and worry about Sunday on Sunday. I can't say enough how much [Michael] Caruso has helped me with the car this weekend."

Van Gisbergen finished up second, the gap just 0.01s, while McLaughlin finished up third, disappointed that he didn't get his final run in.

"I was rubbing my hands together, like 'let's go'," he said. "I got to McPhillamy and it was bucketing down. I went over the hill and it was loose on the slicks, so I said 'nah boys, we'll bring it in'. 

"We'll have another crack tomorrow in the Shootout."

Cam Waters and Whincup finished up fourth and fifth, followed by Fabian Coulthard, Anton De Pasquale and Chaz Mostert – the latter battling a suspected coil pack issue during the session.

James Courtney was ninth fastest, while Nick Percat snuck into the Shootout with 10th despite setting his lap without a functioning shift-cut.

Bryce Fullwood was the man left on the bubble, the rookie set to start the Great Race from 11th, as the likes of David Reynolds (13th), Andre Heimgartner (14th), Mark Winterbottom (18th) and Rick Kelly (19th) all missed out on a Shootout berth.

Bathurst 1000: Qualifying results:

Cla	#	Driver	Car	Time	Gap
1	5	Lee Holdsworth Michael Caruso	Ford Mustang GT	2'04.024
2	97	Shane van Gisbergen Garth Tander	Holden Commodore ZB	2'04.035	0.010
3	17	Scott McLaughlin Tim Slade	Ford Mustang GT	2'04.103	0.079
4	6	Cameron Waters Will Davison	Ford Mustang GT	2'04.105	0.081
5	88	Jamie Whincup Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore ZB	2'04.266	0.241
6	12	Fabian Coulthard Tony D'Alberto	Ford Mustang GT	2'04.281	0.257
7	99	Anton De Pasquale Brodie Kostecki	Holden Commodore ZB	2'04.466	0.442
8	25	Chaz Mostert Warren Luff	Holden Commodore ZB	2'04.493	0.469
9	44	James Courtney Broc Feeney	Ford Mustang GT	2'04.548	0.524
10	8	Nick Percat Thomas Randle	Holden Commodore ZB	2'04.553	0.529
11	2	Bryce Fullwood Kurt Kostecki	Holden Commodore ZB	2'04.605	0.580
12	20	Scott Pye Dean Fiore	Holden Commodore ZB	2'04.632	0.607
13	9	David Reynolds Will Brown	Holden Commodore ZB	2'04.673	0.648
14	7	Andre Heimgartner Dylan O'Keeffe	Ford Mustang GT	2'04.853	0.828
15	55	Jack Le Brocq James Moffat	Ford Mustang GT	2'04.905	0.881
16	14	Todd Hazelwood Jordan Boys	Holden Commodore ZB	2'04.972	0.948
17	3	Macauley Jones Tim Blanchard	Holden Commodore ZB	2'05.037	1.013
18	18	Mark Winterbottom James Golding	Holden Commodore ZB	2'05.173	1.148
19	15	Rick Kelly Dale Wood	Ford Mustang GT	2'05.259	1.234
20	19	Alex Davison Jonathon Webb	Holden Commodore ZB	2'05.332	1.307
21	35	Garry Jacobson David Russell	Holden Commodore ZB	2'05.414	1.389
22	4	Jack Smith Jack Perkins	Holden Commodore ZB	2'06.349	2.325
23	22	Chris Pither Steven Owen	Holden Commodore ZB	2'06.353	2.329
24	40	Tyler Everingham Jayden Ojeda	Holden Commodore ZB	2'06.681	2.657
25	34	Jake Kostecki Zane Goddard	Holden Commodore ZB	2'15.154	11.129
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