Bathurst 1000: Jamie Whincup tops preliminary qualifying

Triple Eight's reigning champion set the pace with a 2m07.7145s in the Holden he will share with Paul Dumbrell on Sunday.

The identity of Whincup's nearest challenger was a surprise, as Brad Jones Racing's Fabian Coulthard got within 0.0786 seconds of toppling the points leader.

Ford Performance Racing duo Mark Winterbottom and Will Davison took third and fourth - Davison having been quickest for a long spell.

The other drivers making it through to Saturday's pole shoot-out were Whincup's team-mate Craig Lowndes, Stone Brothers pair Shane van Gisbergen and Tim Slade, Garth Tander, Steve Owen and David Reynolds.

Tander's presence in the top 10 was particularly impressive given that he had crashed at Turn 2 early in the 40-minute session, causing a red flag. The Holden Racing Team squad performed a rapid repair to get Tander's tank-tape bedecked car back on track.

Positions 11 to 29 in the field are now set, with Jonathon Webb and Jason Bright quickest of those to miss out on shoot-out places, with pole decided in the top-10 run-off on Saturday.

Pos  Driver               Team/Car               Time        Gap
 1.  Jamie Whincup        Triple 8 Holden        2m07.7145s
 2.  Fabian Coulthard     Brad Jones Holden      2m07.7931s  + 0.0786s
 3.  Mark Winterbottom    FPR Ford               2m07.9231s  + 0.2086s
 4.  Will Davison         FPR Ford               2m07.9296s  + 0.2151s
 5.  Craig Lowndes        Triple 8 Holden        2m07.9663s  + 0.2518s
 6.  Shane van Gisbergen  Stone Brothers Ford    2m08.0799s  + 0.3654s
 7.  Tim Slade            Rosenberg/SBR Ford     2m08.0912s  + 0.3767s
 8.  Garth Tander         HRT Holden             2m08.1045s  + 0.3900s
 9.  Steve Owen           Paul Morris/DJR Ford   2m08.1386s  + 0.4241s
10.  David Reynolds       Rod Nash/FPR Ford      2m08.2312s  + 0.5167s
11.  Jonathon Webb        Tekno Holden           2m08.3040s  + 0.5895s
12.  Jason Bright         Brad Jones Holden      2m08.3571s  + 0.6426s
13.  Rick Kelly           Kelly Holden           2m08.3925s  + 0.6780s
14.  James Courtney       HRT Holden             2m08.4692s  + 0.7547s
15.  Lee Holdsworth       Stone Brothers Ford    2m08.5379s  + 0.8234s
16.  Michael Caruso       Garry Rogers Holden    2m08.5409s  + 0.8264s
17.  James Moffat         Dick Johnson Ford      2m08.5849s  + 0.8704s
18.  Steven Johnson       Dick Johnson Ford      2m08.6011s  + 0.8866s
19.  Todd Kelly           Kelly Holden           2m08.8235s  + 1.1090s
20.  Michael Patrizi      Tekno Holden           2m08.8240s  + 1.1095s
21.  Dean Fiore           Triple F/DJR Ford      2m08.8253s  + 1.1108s
22.  David Wall           Britek/BJR Holden      2m08.9091s  + 1.1946s
23.  Greg Murphy          Kelly Holden           2m08.9327s  + 1.2182s
24.  Tony D'Alberto       D'Alberto Ford         2m08.9341s  + 1.2196s
25.  Russell Ingall       Walkinshaw/HRT Holden  2m08.9822s  + 1.2677s
26.  Jack Perkins         Garry Rogers Holden    2m09.1725s  + 1.4580s
27.  Taz Douglas          Dumbrell Holden        2m09.2376s  + 1.5231s
28.  Karl Reindler        Kelly Holden           2m09.3767s  + 1.6622s
29.  Cameron Waters       Kelly Holden           2m10.4865s  + 2.7720s