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2018 Bathurst 1000: Jamie Whincup narrowly seals provisional pole

Jamie Whincup pipped David Reynolds by just over a tenth in what was a thrilling battle for provisional pole ahead of the Bathurst 1000

The two Holden drivers were joined by Scott McLaughlin in what was a rollercoaster fight for top spot.

Whincup ultimately earned the right to run last in tomorrow's Top 10 Shootout that will determine pole.

The primary drivers were greeted with a dry track for the first time all weekend at the start of the 40-minute session, with Shane van Gisbergen and David Reynolds both running wide at The Chase as they found their feet in the improved conditions.

There were no such issues for McLaughlin who slotted straight into top spot with a first run that consisted of a 2m05.391 seconds lap followed immediately by a 2m05.324s tour.

Jamie Whincup showed his hand with the first 'four' of the weekend, a 2m04.576s.

James Courtney hit back on his next run to pip Whincup by a tenth as McLaughlin then split the two Commodores with a time just 0.09s off Courtney's new best time.

With 10 minutes to go, Whincup successfully made a play to return to the top, a 2m04.302s leaving him just under two tenths clear of Courtney.

Luckily for Whincup his improvement came just seconds for Jack Le Brocq hit the Turn 1 wall and brought out the red flag.

The session resumed with nine minutes to go, but it wasn't until the final two minutes that the battle at the top of the times came to life.

McLaughlin was the first of the contenders to have a go, jumping to first with a 2m04.286.

Within seconds he'd been bested, Whincup following the Penske Ford over the line with a 2m04.109s with just seconds of the session remaining.

The only remaining threat was Reynolds, who in a thrilling finish pipped McLaughlin but fell 0.15s short of Whincup to go second.

"That was intense. I've done a lot of laps around this place, but never no dry practice before qualifying, new tyres and just hang it on the edge," Whincup said.

"We improved the car [during the session], which is great, so I'm glad we went out and got the most out of it in the last one, otherwise we would have been pipped.

"That's by far the quickest I've ever been at this place in a Supercar, so I couldn't be happier."

Van Gisbergen finished up fourth with Courtney slipping back to fifth.

Craig Lowndes had to improve after the restart to bank a Top 10 Shootout spot, as did Waters thanks to that poorly-timed red flag, that pair ending up sixth and seventh.

Nick Percat was eighth, Anton De Pasquale putting in the standout rookie performance to secure a Shootout spot at his first Bathurst 1000.

Garth Tander was the final driver to book a Shootout berth, Chaz Mostert the unlucky man on the bubble in 11th.

Surprisingly there wasn't a single Nissan in the Top 10, Andre Heimgartner the best of the Altimas in 13th ahead of team-mate Rick Kelly.

Qualifying result

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Holden 2m04.1093s
2 David Reynolds Erebus Holden 0.1555s
3 Scott McLaughlin DJR Penske Ford 0.1769s
4 Shane van Gisbergen Triple Eight Holden 0.2725s
5 James Courtney Walkinshaw Holden 0.3666s
6 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Holden 0.4609s
7 Cameron Waters Tickford Ford 0.4701s
8 Nick Percat Brad Jones Holden 0.5288s
9 Anton De Pasquale Erebus Holden 0.5849s
10 Garth Tander GRM Holden 0.7474s
11 Chaz Mostert Tickford Ford 0.8040s
12 James Golding GRM Holden 0.8627s
13 Andre Heimgartner Nissan Motorsport Nissan 0.9265s
14 Rick Kelly Nissan Motorsport Nissan 0.9552s
15 Fabian Coulthard DJR Penske Ford 1.0696s
16 Michael Caruso Nissan Motorsport Nissan 1.2102s
17 Richie Stanaway Tickford Ford 1.3514s
18 Scott Pye Walkinshaw Holden 1.3562s
19 Mark Winterbottom Tickford Ford 1.4013s
20 Tim Slade Brad Jones Holden 1.4563s
21 Lee Holdsworth Team 18 Holden 1.5982s
22 Tim Blanchard Blanchard/BJR Holden 1.7340s
23 Todd Hazelwood Matt Stone Holden/Ford 1.9283s
24 Will Davison 23Red Racing Ford 1.9336s
25 Jack Le Brocq Tekno Holden 2.0232s
26 Simona de Silvestro Nissan Motorsport Nissan 2.3281s


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