Holdsworth takes Townsville pole

Holdsworth was eighth before the shootout but put together a clean lap to take pole position just ahead of James Courtney and Garth Tander, Courtney having been on the pace throughout the weekend, including setting the fastest time in qualifying before the top-ten shootout.

Holdsworth's team-mate Michael Caruso, winner of the second race at Hidden Valley, was fourth fastest, with Tander's team-mate Will Davison completing the top five.

After starting the shootout with the second and third-fastest times, ninth and tenth was not where series leader Jamie Whincup and Fabian Coulthard expected to start, but both drivers struggled to put together a clean lap in the top ten runoff.

Whincup's team-mate Craig Lowndes had an even worse session, qualifying 15th just behind Russell Ingall.

Both Ford Performance Racing and Jack Daniels Racing had a poor session, 16th and 21st for Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards for FPR and 17th and 19th for Todd Kelly and Rick Kelly for Jack Daniels is not where they expected to be.

Pos  Driver                Car                   Time
 1.  Lee Holdsworth        Holden Commodore VE   1:12.7327 
 2.  James Courtney        Ford Falcon FG        1:12.8082  + 0.0755
 3.  Garth Tander          Holden Commodore VE   1:12.8263  + 0.0936
 4.  Michael Caruso        Holden Commodore VE   1:12.8977  + 0.1650
 5.  Will Davison          Holden Commodore VE   1:12.9407  + 0.2080
 6.  Jason Richards        Holden Commodore VE   1:13.0736  + 0.3409
 7.  Shane Van Gisbergen   Ford Falcon FG        1:13.0858  + 0.3531
 8.  Steven Johnson        Ford Falcon FG        1:13.2687  + 0.5360
 9.  Jamie Whincup         Ford Falcon FG        1:13.3629  + 0.6302
10.  Fabian Coulthard      Ford Falcon FG        1:13.6079  + 0.8752
11.  David Reynolds        Holden Commodore VE   1:13.0255  + 0.2928
12.  Paul Dumbrell         Holden Commodore VE   1:13.0260  + 0.2933
13.  Cameron McConville    Holden Commodore VE   1:13.0533  + 0.3206
14.  Russell Ingall        Holden Commodore VE   1:13.0584  + 0.3257
15.  Craig Lowndes         Ford Falcon FG        1:13.1465  + 0.4138
16.  Mark Winterbottom     Ford Falcon FG        1:13.2002  + 0.4675
17.  Todd Kelly            Holden Commodore VE   1:13.4012  + 0.6685
18.  Michael Patrizi       Ford Falcon BF        1:13.4232  + 0.6905
19.  Rick Kelly            Holden Commodore VE   1:13.5178  + 0.7851
20.  Jason Bargwanna       Holden Commodore VE   1:13.5230  + 0.7903
21.  Steven Richards       Ford Falcon FG        1:13.5088  + 0.7761
22.  Tony D'Alberto        Holden Commodore VE   1:13.5341  + 0.8014
23.  Tim Slade             Holden Commodore VE   1:13.5438  + 0.8111
24.  Alex Davison          Ford Falcon FG        1:13.7166  + 0.9839
25.  Jack Perkins          Holden Commodore VE   1:13.7420  + 1.0093
26.  Greg Murphy           Holden Commodore VE   1:13.7738  + 1.0411
27.  Jason Bright          Ford Falcon FG        1:13.7867  + 1.0540
28.  Dean Fiore            Holden Commodore VE   1:13.8292  + 1.0965
29.  Mark McNally          Holden Commodore VE   1:14.9106  + 2.1779