Lowndes, Ford on Albert Park pole
Team Vodafone's Craig Lowndes has taken pole position for this weekend's Sprint Gas V8 Supercar Manufacturers Challenge at Albert Park
Lowndes took pole in the top-ten shootout in a nailbiting battle with the lap set earlier in the shootout by Holden Racing Team's Will Davison, Lowndes three-hundredths down at the first split, 0.017 of a second up at the second on his way to taking pole by six-hundredths of a second.
By setting the fastest time, Lowndes has secured the left-hand side of the grid for all the Ford runners, as the two manufacturers go head-to-head in this non-championship event.
Behind Lowndes and Davison will be Mark Winterbottom for Ford Performance Racing, ahead of Jason Richards who was faster than him in the shootout but starts behind him thanks to the unique rules this weekend.
One of the biggest gainers in the shootout was Garth Tander who set the fifth fastest time and will start sixth after setting the eighth fastest time in qualifying, while the biggest loser in the shootout was Fabian Coulthard who was second fastest in qualifying but will start eighth after setting the eighth fastest time too.
An impressive effort was put in by Team Intaracing's Marcus Marshall, who qualified 15th and will line up 13th thanks to Lowndes' pole position.
A couple of drivers who missed the shootout that were expected to feature were Lowndes' teammate Jamie Whincup and Jim Beam Racing's James Courtney.
Whincup had an engine issue in qualifying and only had two laps to set a time but still managed to set the 19th fastest time, 1.38 seconds off the fastest time in regular qualifying, and will start 15th.
After damaging his usual race car at last weekend's Clipsal 500 Courtney ran in a BF Falcon from last season and was only able to go 26th fastest but will start 21st.
Pos Driver Car Time
1. Craig Lowndes Ford 1:57.7400
2. Will Davison Holden 1:57.8002 + 0.0602
3. Mark Winterbottom Ford 1:58.1012 + 0.3612
4. Jason Richards Holden 1:57.8292 + 0.0892
5. Steven Johnson Ford 1:58.5447 + 0.8047
6. Garth Tander Holden 1:58.3206 + 0.5806
7. Fabian Coulthard Ford 1:58.7592 + 1.0192
8. Todd Kelly Holden 1:58.3930 + 0.6530
9. Shane Van Gisbergen Ford 1:59.5091 + 1.7691
10. Paul Dumbrell Holden 1:58.7674 + 1.0274
11. Steven Richards Ford 1:58.5012 + 0.7612
12. Rick Kelly Holden 1:58.5159 + 0.7759
13. Marcus Marshall Ford 1:58.6748 + 0.9348
14. Greg Murphy Holden 1:58.5709 + 0.8309
15. Jamie Whincup Ford 1:58.9596 + 1.2196
16. Cameron McConville Holden 1:58.6445 + 0.9045
17. Jason Bright Ford 1:58.9951 + 1.2551
18. Russell Ingall Holden 1:58.7904 + 1.0504
19. Alex Davison Ford 1:59.0467 + 1.3067
20. Michael Caruso Holden 1:58.8512 + 1.1112
21. James Courtney Ford 1:59.5832 + 1.8432
22. David Reynolds Holden 1:58.9485 + 1.2085
23. Michael Patrizi Ford 2:00.6289 + 2.8889
24. Lee Holdsworth Holden 1:59.1410 + 1.4010
26. Tony D'Alberto Holden 1:59.3189 + 1.5789
28. Tim Slade Holden 1:59.5386 + 1.7986
30. Jason Bargwanna Holden 1:59.5808 + 1.8408
32. Jack Perkins Holden 1:59.6726 + 1.9326
34. Dean Fiore Holden 2:00.4302 + 2.6902
36. Dale Wood Holden 2:01.4748 + 3.7348
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