Symmons Plains Supercars: Whincup wins wet and wild pole
Jamie Whincup will start today’s Supercars race from pole position after a wet and wild scrap with Scott McLaughlin in qualifying.
Jamie Whincup, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden
Daniel Kalisz / Motorsport Images
With the best of the weather conditions coming right at the death, Whincup and DJR Team Penske rival Scott McLaughlin staged a thrilling battle for pole, both improving well after the chequered flag.
In the end it was Whincup’s final lap that did the job, the Triple Eight driver coming out on top by 0.2s.
“Crazy conditions,” he said. “I just pushed hard, on the limit under brakes everywhere.
“It’s critical to be up the front [in the rain], pole is fantastic. It’s a crazy day, we’re earning our money today. Hopefully we stay dry and keep it clean this afternoon.”
The early part of the session saw times hang around the one-minute mark, with the likes of Shane van Gisbergen, Craig Lowndes, and Scott McLaughlin all having a crack at the top.
With just over eight minutes to go times finally dipped under a minute, Erebus driver Dale Wood jumping to the top with a 59.697s. He was replaced by McLaughlin’s 59.691s a minute later, before Whincup went fastest with a 59.666s before immediately improving to a 59.566s.
Times took another significant step forward with four minutes to go when Lowndes bounced back to the top with a 59.189s. Tim Slade pipped that with a 59.043s, only for Whincup to pull ahead again with a 58.712s.
That time looked to have done it, only for McLaughlin to steal top spot after the flag with a 58.667s. Whincup wasn’t done, though, finally grabbing pole with a 58.397s.
Chaz Mostert slotted into third with a last-lap improvement of his own, while Slade found a small gain to end up fourth, ahead of van Gisbergen.
Fabian Coulthard was next, ahead of Todd Kelly and Lowndes, who slipped all the way back to eighth.
David Reynolds and Cam Waters rounded out the Top 10.
Despite the poor conditions there was only one red flag, coming after Alex Rullo had a frightening off on the back straight which saw him bounce across the track after Turn 6.
James Courtney, Will Davison, Rick Kelly, and Taz Douglas didn’t take part in the session, all four having been ruled out of the rest of the weekend following yesterday’s monster shunt.
Cla | # | Driver | Car | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | km/h |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 88 | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 19 | 58.3971 | 148.569 | ||
2 | 17 | Scott McLaughlin | Ford Falcon FG-X | 18 | 58.6678 | 0.2707 | 0.2707 | 147.883 |
3 | 55 | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG-X | 19 | 58.7079 | 0.3108 | 0.0401 | 147.782 |
4 | 14 | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 16 | 58.8794 | 0.4823 | 0.1715 | 147.352 |
5 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 19 | 58.9093 | 0.5122 | 0.0299 | 147.277 |
6 | 12 | Fabian Coulthard | Ford Falcon FG-X | 18 | 59.1030 | 0.7059 | 0.1937 | 146.794 |
7 | 7 | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 18 | 59.1156 | 0.7185 | 0.0126 | 146.763 |
8 | 888 | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 20 | 59.1516 | 0.7545 | 0.0360 | 146.673 |
9 | 9 | David Reynolds | Holden Commodore VF | 18 | 59.1881 | 0.7910 | 0.0365 | 146.583 |
10 | 6 | Cameron Waters | Ford Falcon FG-X | 19 | 59.1974 | 0.8003 | 0.0093 | 146.560 |
11 | 18 | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VF | 18 | 59.2207 | 0.8236 | 0.0233 | 146.502 |
12 | 5 | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG-X | 19 | 59.2281 | 0.8310 | 0.0074 | 146.484 |
13 | 23 | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 19 | 59.2682 | 0.8711 | 0.0401 | 146.385 |
14 | 33 | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 20 | 59.4243 | 1.0272 | 0.1561 | 146.000 |
15 | 2 | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore VF | 19 | 59.4861 | 1.0890 | 0.0618 | 145.849 |
16 | 8 | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | 17 | 59.5786 | 1.1815 | 0.0925 | 145.622 |
17 | 56 | Jason Bright | Ford Falcon FG-X | 19 | 59.6093 | 1.2122 | 0.0307 | 145.547 |
18 | 99 | Dale Wood | Holden Commodore VF | 19 | 59.6364 | 1.2393 | 0.0271 | 145.481 |
19 | 34 | James Moffat | Holden Commodore VF | 18 | 59.7258 | 1.3287 | 0.0894 | 145.263 |
20 | 78 | Simona de Silvestro | Nissan Altima | 17 | 59.9941 | 1.5970 | 0.2683 | 144.614 |
21 | 21 | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VF | 16 | 1'00.2586 | 1.8615 | 0.2645 | 143.979 |
22 | 62 | Alex Rullo | Holden Commodore VF | 1 |
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