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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