Qualifying report
Supercars
Winterbottom breaks Ford pole drought
With a mediocre Clipsal 500 behind him, ‘Frosty’ takes Ford to the front for the first time since 2013.
Published: Mar 12, 2015, 2:07 PM
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It was the redemption he had been hoping for since the arrival of the new Ford Falcon FG X.
Prodrive Racing Australia driver, Mark Winterbottom, who didn't take a single pole position in 2014, took the blue oval to the front for tomorrow's first race at the Australian Grand Prix.
Setting the pace
It wasn't just luck for 'Frosty' as his teammate, Chaz Mostert, completed qualifying in P2 just 0.025 seconds behind Winterbottom.
Together, the Pepsi Max duo was well ahead by almost 0.3 seconds. Additionally, their stablemate, David Reynolds, debuted his new FG X with style as he brought it home in fourth after topping the final practice session.
"It's fantastic," said Winterbottom. "The team's done an incredible job to be one, two, and four.
"It's been an awesome day, we've topped every session between me, Chaz and Dave – but I've got the right one!
"It's been a long time since we've had a pole position, so it's good to be back."
The top ten
Breaking up the PRA team was the current championship leader, James Courtney, who settled into third between Mostert and Reynolds.
Shane van Gisbergen, who recently announced that he will be joining Red Bull Racing Australia in 2016, completed qualifying in fifth just in front of Scott McLaughlin, Fabian Coulthard, Tim Slade, Jamie Whincup and Todd Kelly.
Others of note outside of the top ten are Craig Lowndes who will start in 13th, Lee Holdsworth (16th), Marcos Ambrose (20th) and Michael Caruso (25th). Spending the majority of qualifying in the garage due to electrical issues, Caruso, who claimed pole at the AGP last year, failed to post a competitive time.
The first of the four 12-lap races are set to begin later today with a second race to follow shortly thereafter.
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