Van Gisbergen takes pole position after Gold Coast shootout
The Kiwi was on fire during his performance at the shootout and was rewarded with his second consecutive pole position.
Photo by: Edge Photographics
The aggressive driving style of Shane van Gisbergen paid off for the Kiwi again as he scores his second consecutive pole position with a 1:11.324. Looking for a bit of a comeback after his embarrassing incident at Bathurst a few weeks ago, the ‘Gis’ puts the V.I.P. Petfoods Holden Commodore on the top as he looks to reestablish himself as a dominant driver.
McLaughlin just misses out
Although he took top-spot only moments ago in qualifying, Scott McLaughlin couldn’t get it together enough to make it count during the shootout. Nevertheless, Scotty brings the #33 Volvo to a second place start with a 1:11.399 and will complete the front row of the starting grid.
With an impressive run of his own, the #47 Supercheap Auto driver, Tim Slade, set a very clean lap with a time of 1:11.522 and held provisional pole for a brief period before being knocked off by SVG and McLaughlin. Driving a newly built car, Slade looks strong heading into the upcoming race.
HRT in front of Red Bull
Garth Tander puts Holden Racing Team (HRT) on the map with a top-five performance in the shootout. The veteran V8 driver completed his shootout lap with a 1:11.532 and, more importantly, starts in front of his Red Bull rival.
A smack to his car… And his pride
An embarrassing run for championship leader, Jamie Whincup, puts him in fifth for the start of the Gold Coast 600. Smacking the wall with the rear of his car, clipping the wall with his right side mirror and then swiping the left side against a tire barrier all inside one lap, Whincup wasn’t too pleased with his performance but stated that he was still satisfied with his starting position.
David Reynolds, Lee Holdsworth, Nick Percat and Michael Caruso fill in positions sixth through ninth, respectively, but what happened to Lowndes?
Curbing your enthusiasm
Lowndes never even got a chance to sweat as an early curb-hop penalty slowed him down. Deciding to save his tires, he was effectively DQ’d and he will start from tenth during the coming race. After a strong running during the initial qualifying session, Craig Lowndes was very disappointed. Still, if anyone is capable of making of comeback in an endurance race, it’s Craig Lowndes.
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