Bathurst: Larkham takes pole for Ford

Mark Larkham, who qualified fourth fastest for Saturday's top 10 run-off, stole the show when his Mitre 10 Ford Falcon screamed around the 3.8 mile track in 2m09.51s, a new qualifying record.

It was also the fastest ever lap on the Mount Panorama track, 0.37s faster than the time set more than 20 years ago by Neil Allen's McLaren M10B Formula 5000 - when the track was shorter.

Larkham, from the Gold Coast, was the seventh driver out for the reverse order, single car session and pipped the man who had run immediately before him, Mobil-Holden Racing Team's Mark Skaife, by 0.06s, sending Ford fans around the track into a frenzy.

The final three runners in the top 10 - John Bowe, Paul Radisich and Glenn Seton - all failed to match Larkham's time.

Following on from the practice and qualifying sessions the Saturday morning sprint was dramatic.

Both Craig Lowndes and Seton had car problems, Lowndes' Commodore stopping after the warm-up with what turned out to be a loose crankshaft sensor.

The car made it onto the track by only 30 seconds.

Seton's car initially failed to start for its run-off due to mechanical problems, but the team fixed it in time and he completed the run.

The 1000km race, the final round of the Australian series, will start Sunday at 10:00 (Australian Eastern Summer time, midnight tonight GMT).

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