Ford’s Chaz Mostert has claimed provisional pole position for the Gold Coast 600’s opening Supercars race on Saturday.
Mostert clocked one minute, 10.42 seconds to top the timesheets for the 20-minute qualifying session ahead of Holden’s Shane van Gisbergen. Supercars series leader Scott McLaughlin was third fastest.
After battling to find speed in Friday’s practice, McLaughlin again looked out of sorts despite setting the early qualifying pace.
Ford star McLaughlin held the top time for the majority of the session despite clipping the wall on both sides of his Mustang on the tough street circuit before Mostert came from the clouds to nab a last gasp provisional pole.
Pole position will be determined by the top 10 shootout starting at 1130 AEST.
“It was a tough session so I was glad to get that last lap in there but I left nothing on the table,” Mostert said.
McLaughlin can secure back to back Supercars championships on the Gold Coast but admitted he had some homework to do on the circuit before the shootout.
“I am trying to drive to a track number (lap time) that is probably not quite there, we think the track is a lot faster than it actually is,” McLaughlin said of his frustrating session.
“There was no grip out there. But we will sort it out.”
McLaughlin holds a 622-point championship lead over van Gisbergen ahead of the Gold Coast’s opening 102-lap race after retaining the Bathurst 1000 title despite his Ford outfit DJR Team Penske copping the biggest fine and points reduction in Supercars history for their Great Race tactics.
DJR Team Penske was fined $250,000 – albeit with $100,000 suspended until the end of 2021 – and was deducted 300 championship points after ordering McLaughlin’s teammate Fabian Coulthard to slow down during a late safety-car period at Mount Panorama.
The safety car “go slow” eliminated the fuel advantage of van Gisbergen who eventually finished second at Bathurst, just 0.68 of a second behind McLaughlin.