Courtney takes pole in Queensland
James Courtney has taken pole position for race one of the City of Ipswich 400 at Queensland Raceway
Courtney went to the top of the times with around two minutes remaining in the session, and despite an effort by Mark Winterbottom seconds later, held on to the top spot on the grid.
Winterbottom got extremely close, but missed out by 87 ten-thousandths of a second and will start alongside Courtney on the front row. A strong performance by Supercheap's Russell Ingall throughout qualifying netted him third on the grid, the fastest of the Holdens.
Just behind Ingall was Team Vodafone's Craig Lowndes, with Holden Racing Team's Mark Skaife fifth fastest despite locking a brake at the final corner on a potentially poletaking lap late in the session. He just edged out teammate and reigning champion Garth Tander who will line up alongside him on the grid in sixth.
Will Davison, Jason Richards, Jamie Whincup and Steven Johnson complete the top ten, Richards disappointing after setting the third-fastest time in the first leg of qualifying, and Whincup the same after setting the fastest time in the second leg, before two offs in the final leg ended his hopes of taking pole.
Just outside the top ten were a group of drivers who may have expected to be inside the top ten, including last round winner Steven Richards in eleventh, just ahead of Shane van Gisbergen, Lee Holdsworth and Rick Kelly.
Rick Kelly's brother Todd was one of the disappointments of qualifying, down in 25th, although engine problems at the end of his qualifying runs may have contributed to his poor performance.
Pos Driver Make Time 1. James Courtney Ford 1:10.7351 2. Mark Winterbottom Ford 1:10.7438 + 0.0087 3. Russell Ingall Holden 1:10.8066 + 0.0715 4. Craig Lowndes Ford 1:10.8503 + 0.1152 5. Mark Skaife Holden 1:10.8887 + 0.1536 6. Garth Tander Holden 1:10.9096 + 0.1745 7. Will Davison Ford 1:10.9279 + 0.1928 8. Jason Richards Holden 1:10.9303 + 0.1952 9. Jamie Whincup Ford 1:11.1371 + 0.4020 10. Steven Johnson Ford 11. Steven Richards Ford 1:11.0890 + 0.3539 12. Shane Van Gisbergen Ford 1:11.1075 + 0.3724 13. Lee Holdsworth Holden 1:11.1366 + 0.4015 14. Rick Kelly Holden 1:11.1750 + 0.4399 15. Fabian Coulthard Ford 1:11.2065 + 0.4714 16. Andrew Jones Holden 1:11.2072 + 0.4721 17. Cameron McConville Holden 1:11.2386 + 0.5035 18. Greg Murphy Holden 1:11.2866 + 0.5515 19. Paul Morris Holden 1:11.3793 + 0.6442 20. Paul Dumbrell Holden 21. Tony D'Alberto Holden 1:11.4508 + 0.7157 22. Michael Caruso Holden 1:11.4822 + 0.7471 23. Shane Price Holden 1:11.5013 + 0.7662 24. Jason Bright Ford 1:11.5110 + 0.7759 25. Todd Kelly Holden 1:11.5171 + 0.7820 26. Andrew Thompson Holden 1:11.5366 + 0.8015 27. Marcus Marshall Ford 1:11.7892 + 1.0541 28. Michael Patrizi Ford 1:11.8390 + 1.1039 29. Kayne Scott Ford 1:12.8748 + 2.1397
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