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Australia
Qualifying report

The Bend Supercars: McLaughlin locks out poles

Scott McLaughlin will start both of today's Supercars races from pole as he looks to seal a third title at The Bend.

Scott McLaughlin, DJR Team Penske Ford

Scott McLaughlin, DJR Team Penske Ford

Dirk Klynsmith / Motorsport Images

The DJR Team Penske ace was unstoppable across the back-to-back sessions, edging teammate Fabian Coulthard by 0.02s to grab pole for today's first race.

The second session was less straightforward, McLaughlin just third quickest on the first lap of his final run. However he pressed on for a second set on the tyre, finding a gain to snatch a third sensational pole for the weekend.

"That one was cool," said McLaughlin. "The last one, especially. I didn't get the best first lap, I had to give it everything on my second lap. It's the first time all weekend I've gone fastest on the second lap.

"I'm really happy, the car is great. I'm really proud of that one."

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McLaughlin's title rival Whincup, who needs to keep the gap below 300 points today, enjoyed a solid, if not spectacular, showing across the two sessions.

In both sessions he was pipped by Tickford driver Cam Waters, the pair third and fourth in the first and second and third in the second.

Whincup's teammate Shane van Gisbergen, meanwhile, endured a shocker of a morning. Having gone within a few tenths of winning yesterday's race, he was just 15th in today's first session, before slumping to 22nd in the session.

"That's just where we are," he said. "We've de-tuned something. The car was so fast yesterday, I get out there [today] and feel like I'm on ice.

"It was a pretty good lap and we're 22nd. It's weird. I've got no words. We suck. We need to get better."

Coulthard backed up his second in the first session with fifth in the session, while James Courtney continued his promising run of form with a fifth and fourth from the two hit-outs.

Qualifying Race 2 results

Cla # Driver Time Gap Interval
1 17 New Zealand Scott McLaughlin
1'15.349
2 6 Australia Cameron Waters
1'15.549 0.199 0.199
3 88 Australia Jamie Whincup
1'15.570 0.221 0.021
4 44 Australia James Courtney
1'15.607 0.257 0.036
5 12 New Zealand Fabian Coulthard
1'15.619 0.270 0.012
6 25 Australia Chaz Mostert
1'15.628 0.279 0.009
7 2 Australia Bryce Fullwood
1'15.646 0.296 0.017
8 8 Australia Nick Percat
1'15.669 0.320 0.023
9 99 Australia Anton De Pasquale
1'15.733 0.384 0.064
10 3 Australia Macauley Jones
1'15.775 0.426 0.041
11 18 Australia Mark Winterbottom
1'15.784 0.435 0.008
12 14 Australia Todd Hazelwood
1'15.799 0.449 0.014
13 5 Australia Lee Holdsworth
1'15.821 0.472 0.022
14 9 Australia David Reynolds
1'15.861 0.512 0.039
15 7 New Zealand Andre Heimgartner
1'15.902 0.553 0.041
16 20 Australia Scott Pye
1'15.911 0.561 0.008
17 55 Australia Jack Le Brocq
1'15.945 0.596 0.034
18 15 Australia Rick Kelly
1'16.023 0.673 0.077
19 4 Australia Jack Smith
1'16.027 0.678 0.004
20 22 New Zealand Chris Pither
1'16.219 0.870 0.191
21 35 Australia Garry Jacobson
1'16.238 0.889 0.018
22 97 New Zealand Shane van Gisbergen
1'16.386 1.036 0.147
23 34 Australia Jake Kostecki
1'16.547 1.198 0.161

Qualifying Race 3 results

Cla # Driver Time Gap Interval
1 17 New Zealand Scott McLaughlin
1'15.349
2 6 Australia Cameron Waters
1'15.549 0.199 0.199
3 88 Australia Jamie Whincup
1'15.570 0.221 0.021
4 44 Australia James Courtney
1'15.607 0.257 0.036
5 12 New Zealand Fabian Coulthard
1'15.619 0.270 0.012
6 25 Australia Chaz Mostert
1'15.628 0.279 0.009
7 2 Australia Bryce Fullwood
1'15.646 0.296 0.017
8 8 Australia Nick Percat
1'15.669 0.320 0.023
9 99 Australia Anton De Pasquale
1'15.733 0.384 0.064
10 3 Australia Macauley Jones
1'15.775 0.426 0.041
11 18 Australia Mark Winterbottom
1'15.784 0.435 0.008
12 14 Australia Todd Hazelwood
1'15.799 0.449 0.014
13 5 Australia Lee Holdsworth
1'15.821 0.472 0.022
14 9 Australia David Reynolds
1'15.861 0.512 0.039
15 7 New Zealand Andre Heimgartner
1'15.902 0.553 0.041
16 20 Australia Scott Pye
1'15.911 0.561 0.008
17 55 Australia Jack Le Brocq
1'15.945 0.596 0.034
18 15 Australia Rick Kelly
1'16.022 0.673 0.077
19 4 Australia Jack Smith
1'16.027 0.678 0.004
20 22 New Zealand Chris Pither
1'16.219 0.870 0.191
21 35 Australia Garry Jacobson
1'16.238 0.889 0.018
22 97 New Zealand Shane van Gisbergen
1'16.386 1.036 0.147
23 34 Australia Jake Kostecki
1'16.547 1.198 0.161

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Edition

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