Whincup on Hamilton race one pole
Team Vodafone's Jamie Whincup has taken pole position for the first race of the ITM 400 on the streets of Hamilton in New Zealand
Whincup went fastest in the shootout having topped the times for most of the qualifying session beforehand, before dropping to fourth in the closing minutes, but a clean lap in the shootout put him back on top.
Holden Racing Team's Garth Tander will start alongside him on the front row, Tander having been fastest in the qualifying session before the shootout.
Michael Caruso was third fastest, closely followed by Craig Lowndes, Steven Johnson, Fabian Coulthard and Rick Kelly, all covered by just over a tenth of a second. Lowndes did well to jump six places having to deal with a slightly damp track going out first in the shootout.
After a remarkable effort in qualifying, which saw him top the times with just over two minutes remaining, Tony D'Alberto was still happy qualifying eighth despite dropping five places in the shootout. James Courtney and Mark Winterbottom completed the top ten, Courtney dropping seven places after a lock-up early in his lap.
A late run jumped Steven Richards up from the back of the grid to 16th, while a heavy hit saw Will Davison's session come to an early end, and he will start 24th, three places behind local driver Shane van Gisbergen who never found the speed in qualifying that he had in practice.
Pos Driver Car Time 1. Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore VE 1m23.2690s 2. Garth Tander Holden Commodore VE 1m23.4213s +0.1523s 3. Michael Caruso Holden Commodore VE 1m23.5445s +0.2755s 4. Craig Lowndes Holden Commodore VE 1m23.5799s +0.3109s 5. Steven Johnson Ford Falcon FG 1m23.6354s +0.3664s 6. Fabian Coulthard Holden Commodore VE 1m23.6586s +0.3896s 7. Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VE 1m23.6760s +0.4070s 8. Tony D'Alberto Holden Commodore VE 1m23.8081s +0.5391s 9. James Courtney Ford Falcon FG 1m23.9163s +0.6473s 10. Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon FG 1m23.9946s +0.7256s 11. Jonathon Webb Ford Falcon FG 1m23.6329s +0.3639s 12. Paul Dumbrell Ford Falcon FG 1m23.6862s +0.4172s 13. Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VE 1m23.7699s +0.5009s 14. Lee Holdsworth Holden Commodore VE 1m23.8011s +0.5321s 15. Jason Richards Holden Commodore VE 1m23.8467s +0.5777s 16. Steven Richards Ford Falcon FG 1m23.9119s +0.6429s 17. Andrew Thompson Holden Commodore VE 1m23.9538s +0.6848s 18. Jason Bright Holden Commodore VE 1m23.9739s +0.7049s 19. Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VE 1m24.0221s +0.7531s 20. Russell Ingall Holden Commodore VE 1m24.0288s +0.7598s 21. Shane Van Gisbergen Ford Falcon FG 1m24.0839s +0.8149s 22. Jason Bargwanna Holden Commodore VE 1m24.0892s +0.8202s 23. Dean Fiore Ford Falcon FG 1m24.1773s +0.9083s 24. Will Davison Holden Commodore VE 1m24.1897s +0.9207s 25. Tim Slade Ford Falcon FG 1m24.2932s +1.0242s 26. Alex Davison Ford Falcon FG 1m24.3191s +1.0501s 27. Daniel Gaunt Holden Commodore VE 1m24.9678s +1.6988s 28. Karl Reindler Holden Commodore VE 1m25.1224s +1.8534s 29. Tony Ricciardello Holden Commodore VE 1m25.8922s +2.6232s
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