Holden’s Garth Tander has survived a tense finish to qualifying to claim pole position for the Perth V8 Supercars round’s opening 120km race on Saturday.
Ford star Mark Winterbottom had the top time in the dying moments of the 20-minute session before being swamped in a frenzied finish at a wet Barbagallo Raceway.
In the end, Winterbottom only had the fifth fastest time (1min:02.38sec) for Saturday’s round four opener.
WA-born Tander – the 2007 V8 series champion – claimed his second pole position of the year after holding out Jason Bright (1:02.27).
It provided a much-needed shot in the arm for Tander, who had cut a frustrated figure after arriving at Perth in seventh place on the standings after three official rounds.
Defending series champion Jamie Whincup would also be smiling after being third fastest (1:02.30) – well ahead of 2012 leader Will Davison, who was ninth on the time sheets (1:02.36).
Holden ace Whincup now has a golden chance to chip away at Davison’s 21-point series lead – and the Ford driver’s golden run.
Davison has helped himself to 94 per cent of the total points on offer to date (846 of 900).
Only the legendary Mark Skaife (97.61 per cent in 2002) and two-time V8 champ and current NASCAR ace Marcos Ambrose (94.4 per cent in 2005) have boasted better stats in the past 10 years.
Whincup – along with teammate Craig Lowndes – have won four of the past five Perth races, and the past five pole positions in WA.
Lowndes – fourth in the championship points standings – was 16th fastest on Saturday.
The man who set the pace at practice on Friday – Holden’s Todd Kelly – was 13th quickest.