Tander lands Symmons Plains pole
Holden Racing Team's Garth Tander has taken pole position for the first race of this weekend's V8 Supercar event at Symmons Plains
Tander was the slowest of the cars to make it through to the top ten shootout, but going out first in the shootout was in his favour thanks to greater residual heat in the tyres as he set the fastest time to take pole.
Alongside him on the front row will be Sprint Gas Racing's Greg Murphy, following on from fastest in Friday's practice with Steven Johnson third fastest, the only driver in the top four before the shootout to make it in the top six after it.
Russell Ingall qualified fourth despite losing one of his times in the previous leg of qualifying for allegedly blocking Greg Murphy, his earlier starting order in the shootout probably benefitting him in the end.
However, the shootout was a disaster for Team Vodafone. Craig Lowndes didn't even take part despite setting the seventh fastest time in the second leg of qualifying after he got stuck in the gravel at the hairpin, the red flag that was subsequently brought out meaning he could take no further part in qualifying.
His team-mate and championship leader Jamie Whincup, who was fastest going into the shootout, fell to eighth in a reversal of Tander's fortunes, with only Steven Richards who went with new rear tyres on a cold track and bounced off the fence and Lowndes who didn't even run behind him in the top ten.
There were several fancied runners who just missed out on making the top ten, with Todd Kelly, Mark Winterbottom, Lee Holdsworth, Will Davison and Fabian Coulthard filling places 11 to 15 on the grid, Coulthard having received a similar penalty to Lowndes in the second leg of qualifying.
Despite missing out on the top ten, there were other drivers who were expected to that didn't even make it into the second leg of qualifying, including Murphy's team-mate Jason Richards in 22nd, Paul Dumbrell in 24th and Cameron McConville who will start from 30th, last on the grid.
Pos Driver Car Time 1. Garth Tander Holden Commodore VE 0:51.7043 2. Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VE 0:51.7574 3. Steven Johnson Ford Falcon FG 0:51.8509 4. Russell Ingall Holden Commodore VE 0:51.8956 5. James Courtney Ford Falcon FG 0:51.9352 6. Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VE 0:52.0238 7. Shane van Gisbergen Ford Falcon FG 0:52.0414 8. Jamie Whincup Ford Falcon FG 0:52.0890 9. Steven Richards Ford Falcon FG 0:52.2080 10. Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon FG no time 11. Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VE 0:51.6648 12. Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon FG 0:51.6909 13. Lee Holdsworth Holden Commodore VE 0:51.6992 14. Will Davison Holden Commodore VE 0:51.7076 15. Fabian Coulthard Ford Falcon FG 0:51.7363 16. Michael Caruso Holden Commodore VE 0:51.7609 17. Alex Davison Ford Falcon FG 0:51.8326 18. Jason Bright Ford Falcon BF 0:51.8722 19. Marcus Marshall Ford Falcon BF 0:51.9777 20. Jack Perkins Holden Commodore VE 0:51.9952 21. Tim Slade Holden Commodore VE 0:52.1462 22. Jason Richards Holden Commodore VE 0:52.1608 23. Jason Bargwanna Holden Commodore VE 0:52.1620 24. Paul Dumbrell Holden Commodore VE 0:52.2415 25. Dale Wood Holden Commodore VE 0:52.2837 26. David Reynolds Holden Commodore VE 0:52.3269 27. Tony D'Alberto Holden Commodore VE 0:52.3567 28. Michael Patrizi Ford Falcon BF 0:52.4432 29. Dean Fiore Holden Commodore VE 0:52.4716 30. Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VE 0:52.5021
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