Newcastle Supercars: Winterbottom tops Sunday qualifying
Mark Winterbottom went quickest in Sunday qualifying ahead of the final Top Ten Shootout of the 2017 Virgin Australia Supercars season
Photo by: Daniel Kalisz / Motorsport Images
Winterbottom topped the charts with a 1:10.2010 and will be one of ten drivers able to make a run at pole position in the Shootout.
The 20-minute session began with James Courtney at the top of the charts, but he lost his fast time after burying his Holden in the tire barrier. The incident caused a red flag, freezing the clock at 14:57 remaining.
The stoppage lasted for nine minutes. When things got back underway, the title contenders Scott McLaughlin and Jamie Whincup quickly shot up near the top of the board. Shane van Gisbergen went off as he pushed his car to the absolute edge, but it would pay off as he soon captured the fastest lap at a 1:10.2046.
It wasn't until the closing moments of the session that Winterbottom was able to one-up him by just 0.0036.
Over at the backend of the top ten, Will Davison held on to the final spot for the Shootout, but Todd Kelly had something to say about it before the checkered flag flew. In the veteran's final start, he surged up into the eighth position and locked himself into the ten-driver fight for pole position.
"I gave it everything I had. Just glad I got it in there. Just thank the guys for all the effort they've given me," he said afterwards.
So the drivers advancing into the Top Ten Shootout in order from fastest to slowest: Winterbottom, Van Gisbergen, David Reynolds, McLaughlin, Rick Kelly, Whincup, Chaz Mostert, Michael Caruso, T. Kelly, and Fabian Coulthard.
Davison ended up being the first driver on the outside, just a few hundredths shy of Coulthard's time.
Cla | # | Driver | Car | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | km/h |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 5 | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG-X | 9 | 1'10.2010 | 133.331 | ||
2 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 10 | 1'10.2046 | 0.0036 | 0.0036 | 133.324 |
3 | 9 | David Reynolds | Holden Commodore VF | 9 | 1'10.3276 | 0.1266 | 0.1230 | 133.091 |
4 | 17 | Scott McLaughlin | Ford Falcon FG-X | 10 | 1'10.3715 | 0.1705 | 0.0439 | 133.008 |
5 | 15 | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 11 | 1'10.4062 | 0.2052 | 0.0347 | 132.942 |
6 | 88 | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 10 | 1'10.4330 | 0.2320 | 0.0268 | 132.892 |
7 | 55 | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG-X | 8 | 1'10.4426 | 0.2416 | 0.0096 | 132.874 |
8 | 23 | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 10 | 1'10.5085 | 0.3075 | 0.0659 | 132.749 |
9 | 7 | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 12 | 1'10.5280 | 0.3270 | 0.0195 | 132.713 |
10 | 12 | Fabian Coulthard | Ford Falcon FG/X | 13 | 1'10.5606 | 0.3596 | 0.0326 | 132.651 |
11 | 19 | Will Davison | Holden Commodore VF | 9 | 1'10.5959 | 0.3949 | 0.0353 | 132.585 |
12 | 6 | Cameron Waters | Ford Falcon FG-X | 11 | 1'10.6333 | 0.4323 | 0.0374 | 132.515 |
13 | 18 | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VF | 12 | 1'10.6400 | 0.4390 | 0.0067 | 132.502 |
14 | 34 | James Moffat | Holden Commodore VF | 12 | 1'10.6730 | 0.4720 | 0.0330 | 132.440 |
15 | 8 | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | 12 | 1'10.6981 | 0.4971 | 0.0251 | 132.393 |
16 | 14 | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 10 | 1'10.6984 | 0.4974 | 0.0003 | 132.393 |
17 | 78 | Simona de Silvestro | Nissan Altima | 12 | 1'10.8733 | 0.6723 | 0.1749 | 132.066 |
18 | 2 | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore VF | 12 | 1'10.9716 | 0.7706 | 0.0983 | 131.883 |
19 | 33 | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 12 | 1'11.0195 | 0.8185 | 0.0479 | 131.794 |
20 | 56 | Jason Bright | Ford Falcon FG-X | 11 | 1'11.0280 | 0.8270 | 0.0085 | 131.779 |
21 | 21 | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VF | 11 | 1'11.0290 | 0.8280 | 0.0010 | 131.777 |
22 | 888 | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 11 | 1'11.0516 | 0.8506 | 0.0226 | 131.735 |
23 | 99 | Dale Wood | Holden Commodore VF | 10 | 1'11.2249 | 1.0239 | 0.1733 | 131.414 |
24 | 22 | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 2 | 1'11.3645 | 1.1635 | 0.1396 | 131.157 |
25 | 3 | Aaren Russell | Holden Commodore VF | 12 | 1'11.6392 | 1.4382 | 0.2747 | 130.654 |
26 | 62 | Taz Douglas | Holden Commodore VF | 11 | 1'11.6512 | 1.4502 | 0.0120 | 130.632 |
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
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.
Top Comments