J Richards tops Bathurst qualifying

After the first session was interrupted by a red flag in the middle of the session when David Reynolds went into the tyres at McPhillamy, the second session was also red-flagged, this time with 90 seconds remaining after Warren Luff bunkered his car on the exit of the final turn.

Whether anyone else could have better Richards time is unclear, but regardless of whether they could have or not, Richards had the time on the board, just eight-hundredths of a a second ahead of Holden Racing Team's Garth Tander.

Lee Holdsworth in his Garry Rogers Holden was the early pacesetter in the second session and ended the session third, with FPR's Mark Winterbottom and the second HRT car of Paul Dumbrell next, both HRT cars showing much improved speed, suggesting their Thursday running was targetted towards race set-up.

Sixth-fastest, and on a lap that looked almost certain to move him up the order and possibly even challenge the top two runners, was Team Vodafone's Craig Lowndes. Regardless, the defending champion safely made it through to tomorrow's top ten shootout.

Completing the drivers who made it through to the shootout for the top ten grid positions were Stone Brothers' Shane van Gisbergen, Jack Daniel's Racing's Todd Kelly, Sprint Gas Racing's Greg Murphy and Supercheap's Russell Ingall, all less than half a second off Richards' effort.

Just missing out on the top ten was Fabian Coulthard in 11th place, while the biggest disappointment must be for Jim Beam Racing in 13th for Steven Johnson and 14th for Warren Luff.

Johnson had topped the final practice earlier in the day before qualifying with a time good enough for seventh, while Luff was in the top ten after the first qualifying session before dropping to 14th in the second, just ahead of the second Sprint Gas car of Jason Bargwanna.

Despite his crash during the first session, David Reynolds still outqualified seven other cars and will line up 25th, the only other casualty taking place earlier in the day in practice, the car of David Sieders and Andrew Fisher hitting the wall at Reid Park, Sieders later qualifying the car in 30th position.

Pos  Drivers                   Make                 Time
 1.  J Richards/McConville     Holden Commodore VE  2:07.2230
 2.  G Tander/W Davison        Holden Commodore VE  2:07.3030  + 0.0800
 3.  Holdsworth/Caruso         Holden Commodore VE  2:07.4366  + 0.2136
 4.  Winterbottom/S Richards   Ford Falcon FG       2:07.4957  + 0.2727
 5.  Dumbrell/Baird            Holden Commodore VE  2:07.5166  + 0.2936
 6.  Lowndes/Whincup           Ford Falcon FG       2:07.5477  + 0.3247
 7.  van Gisbergen/A Davison   Ford Falcon FG       2:07.6261  + 0.4031
 8.  T Kelly/R Kelly           Holden Commodore VE  2:07.6651  + 0.4421
 9.  Murphy/Skaife             Holden Commodore VE  2:07.6908  + 0.4678
10.  Ingall/O Kelly            Holden Commodore VE  2:07.7211  + 0.4981
11.  Coulthard/Patrizi         Ford Falcon FG       2:07.7849  + 0.5619
12.  Bright/Reindler           Ford Falcon FG       2:07.8048  + 0.5818
13.  Johnson/Courtney          Ford Falcon FG       2:07.9528  + 0.7298
14.  Luff/Webb                 Ford Falcon FG       2:08.0276  + 0.8046
15.  Bargwanna/Noske           Holden Commodore VE  2:08.0319  + 0.8089
16.  Ritter/Besnard            Holden Commodore VE  2:08.2135  + 0.9905
17.  Simonsen/J Thompson       Ford Falcon FG       2:08.3859  + 1.1629
18.  Canto/Youlden             Ford Falcon FG       2:08.4119  + 1.1889
19.  D'Alberto/A Thompson      Holden Commodore VE  2:08.4720  + 1.2490
20.  Owen/Price                Holden Commodore VE  2:08.7417  + 1.5187
21.  McIntyre/Gaunt            Ford Falcon FG       2:08.7687  + 1.5457
22.  A Jones/B Jones           Holden Commodore VE  2:08.9861  + 1.7631
23.  Perkins/Wood              Holden Commodore VE  2:09.1775  + 1.9545
24.  Pretty/Collins            Holden Commodore VE  2:09.1893  + 1.9663
25.  Reynolds/Priaulx          Holden Commodore VE  2:09.2743  + 2.0513
26.  Assaillit/Lowe            Ford Falcon BF       2:09.3111  + 2.0881
27.  Morris/Slade              Holden Commodore VE  2:09.3853  + 2.1623
28.  Ricciardello/McNally      Holden Commodore VE  2:09.6376  + 2.4146
29.  Wall/L Tander             Ford Falcon BF       2:10.4151  + 3.1921
30.  Sieders/Fisher            Ford Falcon BF       2:10.6107  + 3.3877
31.  Walter/Douglas            Holden Commodore VE  2:10.6224  + 3.3994
32.  Bayliss/Fiore             Holden Commodore VE  2:13.3271  + 6.1041