Townsville Supercars: McLaughlin storms to provisional pole

The DJR Team Penske driver continued his remarkable qualifying form, breaking his own lap record with a 1m12.030s to secure provisional pole without even having to do a final run.

James Courtney was the first driver to set a serious time, opting to jump straight onto greens and going fastest with a 1m12.667s. On six minutes Garth Tander took over at the top with a 1m12.608s, before Rick Kelly had a go with a 1m12.527s.

At the midway point of the session Cam Waters blasted his way to the top with a 1m12.454s, before McLaughlin blew everyone away with a 1m12.030s – to that point four tenths clear of the field – with seven minutes to go.

Just like yesterday, the time mean he didn’t need to do a third run. And despite sitting out the last part of the session he still wound up on provisional pole why a whopping 0.26s of a second.

“It’s really nice to drive a car this good, it repays you for driving it to its limit,” he said. “I’m a lucky boy, I’m counting my lucky stars to be able to drive a car this good.”

Chaz Mostert wound up second, improving from outside the Top 10 with 90s to go with a 1m12.298s. That knocked his Prodrive Racing teammate Mark Winterbottom down to third, the 2015 champion having set his 1m12.304s just seconds earlier.

Like McLaughlin, David Reynolds opted to not bother with a third run, his 1m12.329s holding on for fourth spot. Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen both had to scramble from outside the 10 on their final run to finish fifth and sixth respectively, while Waters slipped back to seventh.

Jason Bright made good gains on his final run to put all four Prodrive Fords in the Shootout, with Tander and Kelly the final two to bank a spot in the one-lap dash.

Fabian Coulthard won’t be taking part in the Shootout, the Penske driver just 11th fastest and more than half a second off his teammate.

“I just an’t get on top of the quali car here this weekend,” he said. “Scotty’s got it nailed. For me I’m just struggling to get the car rotated, and every time you’re waiting for the car to rotate you can’t get on the throttle.”

Craig Lowndes’s qualifying woes continued, the Triple Eight driver just 21st fastest.

Cla	#	Driver	Car	Time	Gap
1	17	Scott McLaughlin	Ford Falcon FG-X	1'12.0307
2	55	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG-X	1'12.2986	0.2679
3	5	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG-X	1'12.3043	0.2736
4	9	David Reynolds	Holden Commodore VF	1'12.3290	0.2983
5	88	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore VF	1'12.3513	0.3206
6	97	Shane van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore VF	1'12.4495	0.4188
7	6	Cameron Waters	Ford Falcon FG-X	1'12.4542	0.4235
8	56	Jason Bright	Ford Falcon FG-X	1'12.4640	0.4333
9	33	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore VF	1'12.5213	0.4906
10	15	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	1'12.5271	0.4964
11	23	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	1'12.5662	0.5355
12	12	Fabian Coulthard	Ford Falcon FG-X	1'12.5681	0.5374
13	22	James Courtney	Holden Commodore VF	1'12.5914	0.5607
14	7	Todd Kelly	Nissan Altima	1'12.5994	0.5687
15	18	Lee Holdsworth	Holden Commodore VF	1'12.6116	0.5809
16	34	James Moffat	Holden Commodore VF	1'12.6232	0.5925
17	19	Will Davison	Holden Commodore VF	1'12.6687	0.6380
18	14	Tim Slade	Holden Commodore VF	1'12.6821	0.6514
19	2	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore VF	1'12.6968	0.6661
20	8	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore VF	1'12.8198	0.7891
21	888	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore VF	1'12.8501	0.8194
22	99	Dale Wood	Holden Commodore VF	1'13.0122	0.9815
23	21	Tim Blanchard	Holden Commodore VF	1'13.0976	1.0669
24	78	Simona de Silvestro	Nissan Altima	1'13.2987	1.2680
25	62	Alex Rullo	Holden Commodore VF	1'13.4398	1.4091
26	3	Aaren Russell	Holden Commodore VF	1'13.5707	1.5400