Adelaide V8 Supercars: Whincup, Lowndes get poles, Volvo on front row
Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes claimed pole positions for V8 Supercars' season-opening races in Adelaide, as Volvo's Scott McLaughlin secured a shock front-row start
Triple Eight duo Whincup and Lowndes dominated the day, with the reigning champion claiming the top spot in the first 15-minute qualifying race ahead of his team-mate.
Lowndes, however, fought back in the second heat to beat McLaughlin by 0.1103 seconds, as the Kiwi secured a front-row slot for Volvo in the new S60's debut in the series.
"That's been a lot of hard work," said GRM boss Garry Rogers, whose team runs the Volvos.
"These guys deserve such credit. It's been an exciting project as well. Polestar in Sweden have done a ripping job with the engines. A lot of credit has to go to a lot of people, but I'm thrilled to bits."
Ford Performance Racing's Mark Winterbottom qualified third for the first race in the quickest Ford, ahead of Holden Racing Team's James Courtney and McLaughlin.
Whincup, Jason Bright and Winterbottom completed the top five on the race-two grid, ahead of the top Mercedes of Lee Holdsworth.
Todd Kelly and Michael Carusso secured seventh places for race one and race two respectively as the fastest qualifiers for Nissan.
The first two races will take place on Saturday, with another qualifying session on Sunday ahead of the final race of the weekend.
Race one qualifying: Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Holden 1m20.5849s 2. Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Holden 1m20.7367s +0.1518s 3. Mark Winterbottom FPR Ford 1m20.8204s +0.2355s 4. James Courtney HRT Holden 1m20.8312s +0.2463s 5. Scott McLaughlin GRM Volvo 1m20.8350s +0.2501s 6. Shane van Gisbergen Tekno Holden 1m20.8459s +0.2610s 7. Todd Kelly Nissan 1m20.9231s +0.3382s 8. Scott Pye Dick Johnson Ford 1m20.9479s +0.3630s 9. Tim Slade Walkinshaw/HRT Holden 1m20.9603s +0.3754s 10. Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Holden 1m21.0592s +0.4743s 11. Chaz Mostert FPR Ford 1m21.0598s +0.4749s 12. Michael Caruso Nissan 1m21.0719s +0.4870s 13. Jason Bright Brad Jones Holden 1m21.1735s +0.5886s 14. Rick Kelly Nissan 1m21.1935s +0.6086s 15. Garth Tander HRT Holden 1m21.2250s +0.6401s 16. Lee Holdsworth Erebus Mercedes 1m21.3285s +0.7436s 17. James Moffat Nissan 1m21.3611s +0.7762s 18. Russell Ingall Dumbrell Holden 1m21.4766s +0.8917s 19. Dale Wood Britek/BJR Holden 1m21.5583s +0.9734s 20. David Wall Dick Johnson Ford 1m21.5764s +0.9915s 21. Robert Dahlgren GRM Volvo 1m21.7651s +1.1802s 22. David Reynolds Rod Nash/FPR Ford 1m21.8145s +1.2296s 23. Jack Perkins Schwerkolt/FPR Ford 1m22.1294s +1.5445s 24. Will Davison Erebus Mercedes 1m22.4255s +1.8406s 25. Nick Percat Rosenberg/HRT Holden 1m23.3727s +2.7878s Race two qualifying: Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Holden 1m20.4155s 2. Scott McLaughlin GRM Volvo 1m20.5258s +0.1103s 3. Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Holden 1m20.5699s +0.1544s 4. Jason Bright Brad Jones Holden 1m20.6474s +0.2319s 5. Mark Winterbottom FPR Ford 1m20.6900s +0.2745s 6. Lee Holdsworth Erebus Mercedes 1m20.7119s +0.2964s 7. Michael Caruso Nissan 1m20.7337s +0.3182s 8. James Courtney HRT Holden 1m20.7735s +0.3580s 9. Scott Pye Dick Johnson Ford 1m20.8208s +0.4053s 10. Chaz Mostert FPR Ford 1m20.8530s +0.4375s 11. Todd Kelly Nissan 1m20.8712s +0.4557s 12. Tim Slade Walkinshaw/HRT Holden 1m20.9075s +0.4920s 13. Nick Percat Rosenberg/HRT Holden 1m20.9294s +0.5139s 14. James Moffat Nissan 1m20.9350s +0.5195s 15. Shane van Gisbergen Tekno Holden 1m20.9576s +0.5421s 16. Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Holden 1m20.9642s +0.5487s 17. Rick Kelly Nissan 1m21.0138s +0.5983s 18. Garth Tander HRT Holden 1m21.0163s +0.6008s 19. David Reynolds Rod Nash/FPR Ford 1m21.1581s +0.7426s 20. Will Davison Erebus Mercedes 1m21.1956s +0.7801s 21. David Wall Dick Johnson Ford 1m21.2844s +0.8689s 22. Jack Perkins Schwerkolt/FPR Ford 1m21.3997s +0.9842s 23. Dale Wood Britek/BJR Holden 1m21.6160s +1.2005s 24. Russell Ingall Dumbrell Holden 1m21.7130s +1.2975s 25. Robert Dahlgren GRM Volvo 1m21.7925s +1.3770s
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