Mark Winterbottom takes Phillip Island V8 Supercars race one pole for Ford Performance Racing
Mark Winterbottom took pole position for the first race of the V8 Supercars weekend at Phillip Island, as Ford Performance Racing outshone arch-rival Triple Eight in Saturday's qualifying session
In an ultra-close 20 minutes, championship leader Jamie Whincup's Triple Eight Holden led the way for the first half of the session, before FPR surged to the front, as practice pacesetter David Reynolds took provisional pole ahead of stablemates Winterbottom and Will Davison.
The Triple Eight then jumped back to the top, with Whincup and team-mate Craig Lowndes moving to first and second for a spell.
But unlike most of the other frontrunners, Whincup could not improve on his final run of the session, and the 1m32.5215s lap that had given him provisional pole was only good enough for eighth as rivals found more time.
Winterbottom did best of all to take pole with a 1m32.1320s, a tenth of a second ahead of Reynolds, who secured a career-best starting spot.
Brad Jones Racing's Jason Bright prevented an all-FPR top three by putting his Holden third ahead of Davison.
Tim Slade (James Rosenberg/Stone Brothers Ford) and Rick Kelly (Kelly Holden) claimed the third row spots, in front of Lowndes and Whincup on row four.
Holden Racing Team's Garth Tander and Stone Brothers' Lee Holdsworth completed the top 10.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Mark Winterbottom FPR Ford 1m32.1320s 2. David Reynolds Rod Nash/FPR Ford 1m32.2519s + 0.1199s 3. Jason Bright Brad Jones Holden 1m32.3373s + 0.2053s 4. Will Davison FPR Ford 1m32.3838s + 0.2518s 5. Tim Slade Rosenberg/SBR Ford 1m32.4118s + 0.2798s 6. Rick Kelly Kelly Holden 1m32.4155s + 0.2835s 7. Craig Lowndes Triple 8 Holden 1m32.4368s + 0.3048s 8. Jamie Whincup Triple 8 Holden 1m32.5215s + 0.3895s 9. Garth Tander HRT Holden 1m32.5431s + 0.4111s 10. Lee Holdsworth Stone Brothers Ford 1m32.6438s + 0.5118s 11. Shane van Gisbergen Stone Brothers Ford 1m32.6510s + 0.5190s 12. Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Holden 1m32.9099s + 0.7779s 13. Jonathon Webb Tekno Holden 1m33.0355s + 0.9035s 14. Steve Owen Dick Johnson Ford 1m33.0428s + 0.9108s 15. Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Ford 1m33.0660s + 0.9340s 16. James Courtney HRT Holden 1m33.1772s + 1.0452s 17. Michael Caruso Garry Rogers Holden 1m33.2250s + 1.0930s 18. Dean Fiore Triple F Ford 1m33.3130s + 1.1810s 19. Michael Patrizi Tekno Holden 1m33.3218s + 1.1898s 20. Greg Murphy Kelly Holden 1m33.3471s + 1.2151s 21. Tony D'Alberto D'Alberto Ford 1m33.3547s + 1.2227s 22. Alexandre Premat Garry Rogers Holden 1m33.4526s + 1.3206s 23. Todd Kelly Kelly Holden 1m33.4671s + 1.3351s 24. Russell Ingall Walkinshaw Holden 1m33.5750s + 1.4430s 25. Taz Douglas Dumbrell Holden 1m33.6303s + 1.4983s 26. Karl Reindler Kelly Holden 1m33.7258s + 1.5938s 27. James Moffat Dick Johnson Ford 1m33.7291s + 1.5971s 28. David Wall Britek/BJR Holden 1m33.8324s + 1.7004s
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