Gold Coast V8s: McLaughlin storms to Sunday pole

The young Kiwi was fast throughout the 20-minute session, sitting second fastest after the first run.

But it was during the crucial second run at the end of the session that McLaughlin really put the hammer down, a 1m10.762s with two minutes left on the clock enough to secure pole position for he and Alex Premat ahead of today’s second 300-kay race.

Title contender Craig Lowndes was second fastest, after improving significantly on his last run. The Triple Eight driver was first in to the 1m10s with a 1m10.862s, although he was only fastest for a matter of seconds before McLaughlin knocked him out of P1.

Yesterday’s race winner Shane van Gisbergen was third fastest in the Tekno Commodore. The Kiwi was fastest after the first batch of runs with an impressive 1m11.195s, and then lowered that time to a 1m10.931s on his final lap to lock down a second row start.

He will be joined on the second row by Lowndes’s team-mate Jamie Whincup, who was the only other driver to go under 1m11s.

Points leader Mark Winterbottom’s #5 Falcon will start the race fifth, alongside Scott Pye and Marcos Ambrose’s Penske entry. Holden drivers Garth Tander and Tim Slade locked out the fourth row, with David Reynolds and Lee Holdsworth rounding out the Top 10.