Qualifying report
Supercars Bathurst
Coulthard on provisional Bathurst pole
Fabian Coulthard ended up on top of a rain-affected qualifying session at Mount Panorama, while some big names missed out on a spot in the Shootout.
Andrew van Leeuwen
Published: Oct 10, 2015, 2:19 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Banker laps proved key, with light rain making it impossible to improve after the 15-minute mark.
To that point, it was Coulthard who was on top of the times, having gone fastest with a 2m06.183s right before the rain arrived.
While significantly slower than the fastest times seen in practice over the last two days, it was enough to secure provisional pole position ahead of this afternoon’s Top 10 Shootout.
“The rain was inevitable, it was going to come at some point,” said Coulthard. “So you had to sneak out there and get a lap done and be good enough to be in the 10.”
Shane van Gisbergen was second fastest, ahead of Walkinshaw Racing’s Tim Slade and Triple Eight’s Jamie Whincup, making it an all-Holden top four.
Scott Pye was the first of the Fords in fifth, ahead of Jason Bright and Scott McLaughlin, who led the way for Volvo.
David Reynolds was form team Prodrive’s only entry to make the Top 10, while Lee Holdsworth and Nissan’s James Moffat also booked Shootout spots.
The mixed weather conditions did catch some big names out, including pre-race favourite Mark Winterbottom. He and Steve Owen will start from P14 tomorrow, Winterbottom estimated he missed the window for a second run in the dry by five seconds.
“What do you do? The weather was coming,” he said.
“We rolled and the first set was pretty bad on that first lap, but I think I was still P4. We chose to come in and put another set of tyres on, and I probably missed the window by about five seconds.
“I was on for a five, and the rain comes down, and you ether stick it in the fence or count your losses.”
Craig Lowndes was another big name to miss the cut, and will start The Great Race from P15.
“We knew there would be potential for some showers coming through,” Lowndes said.
“I buggered up the first lap, we got out of it, tried a second lap. I think looking at the data, we had a good half a lap. The second half I really made a few little mistakes, which of course you only have to make some small mistakes around here.”
The Holden Racing Team had a tough session as well, missing out on the Shootout with both cars. Jack Perkins and Russell Ingall will start 17th, while Garth Tander and Warren Luff will be back in P22.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Rick Kelly’s Bathurst Blog: Day 2
Next article Rick Kelly’s Bathurst Blog: Day 3
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Andrew van Leeuwen
Toby Price explains 'unfortunate' Mitsubishi split
Dakar
Dakar
Dakar
Toby Price explains 'unfortunate' Mitsubishi split
Supercars parity review begins
Supercars
Supercars
Supercars parity review begins
SRO set for bigger Australian GT presence
GT World Challenge Australia
GT World Challenge Australia
SRO set for bigger Australian GT presence
More from
Fabian Coulthard
Watch NASCAR star Joey Logano snow drift a 1924 Model T
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray
Watch NASCAR star Joey Logano snow drift a 1924 Model T
Coulthard rules himself out of full-time WAU drive
Supercars
Supercars
Coulthard rules himself out of full-time WAU drive
Supercars silly season ramps up
Supercars
Supercars
Supercars silly season ramps up
Latest news
Joe Gibbs Racing moves to resolve one portion of Spire countersuit
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup 2 h
Joe Gibbs Racing moves to resolve one portion of Spire countersuit
Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
11 h
Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors
Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
12 h
Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss
IndyCar 2026 season review: Dale Coyne Racing
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 12 h
IndyCar 2026 season review: Dale Coyne Racing
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe