Lowndes on Barbagallo race one pole
Team Vodafone's Craig Lowndes took his first pole position since 2005 when he went fastest in the qualifying shootout for race one of the BigPond 300 at Barbagallo
Lowndes was fifth before the shootout but just hung on to pole position in the deciding session. His team-mate Jamie Whincup failed to beat his time by just 0.0052 seconds after leading qualifying going into the shootout, the two Team Vodafone cars lining up on the front row of the grid.
Also less than a tenth behind Lowndes were Jim Beam's Steven Johnson and Holden Racing Team's Will Davison in third and fourth, with Todd Kelly and Mark Winterbottom filling the third row of the grid.
The remainder of the top ten on the grid will be Lee Holdsworth, Garth Tander, Russell Ingall and James Courtney, who gave away any chance of a better position when he locked his brakes into the final corner, and still only missed pole by just over half a second.
Rick Kelly just missed the shootout in 11th position, while Jason Bright looked set for another good qualifying before also just missing the top ten in 13th.
A couple of fancied Ford runners in the shape of Fabian Coulthard and Shane van Gisbergen did not even come close to the top ten, qualifying 18th and 19th behind the second Supercheap car of Tim Slade.
However, it was an even more disastrous session for Jason Richards, who ended the session in 27th position on the second to last row of the grid.
Pos Driver Car Time 1. Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon FG 0:57.1862 2. Jamie Whincup Ford Falcon FG 0:57.1914 + 0.0052 3. Steven Johnson Ford Falcon FG 0:57.2446 + 0.0584 4. Will Davison Holden Commodore VE 0:57.2688 + 0.0826 5. Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VE 0:57.3226 + 0.1364 6. Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon FG 0:57.3753 + 0.1891 7. Lee Holdsworth Holden Commodore VE 0:57.3938 + 0.2076 8. Garth Tander Holden Commodore VE 0:57.4571 + 0.2709 9. Russell Ingall Holden Commodore VE 0:57.5289 + 0.3427 10. James Courtney Ford Falcon FG 0:57.7084 + 0.5222 11. Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VE 0:57.3585 + 0.1723 12. David Reynolds Holden Commodore VE 0:57.3589 + 0.1727 13. Jason Bright Ford Falcon FG 0:57.4287 + 0.2425 14. Michael Caruso Holden Commodore VE 0:57.4354 + 0.2492 15. Paul Dumbrell Holden Commodore VE 0:57.4395 + 0.2533 16. Steven Richards Ford Falcon FG 0:57.4518 + 0.2656 17. Tim Slade Holden Commodore VE 0:57.4566 + 0.2704 18. Fabian Coulthard Ford Falcon FG 0:57.5572 + 0.3710 19. Shane Van Gisbergen Ford Falcon FG 0:57.6110 + 0.4248 20. Jason Bargwanna Holden Commodore VE 0:57.6211 + 0.4349 21. Alex Davison Ford Falcon FG 0:57.4493 + 0.2631 22. Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VE 0:57.4583 + 0.2721 23. Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VE 0:57.5438 + 0.3576 24. Dean Fiore Holden Commodore VE 0:57.5547 + 0.3685 25. Tony D'Alberto Holden Commodore VE 0:57.6107 + 0.4245 26. Jack Perkins Holden Commodore VE 0:57.6263 + 0.4401 27. Jason Richards Holden Commodore VE 0:57.6864 + 0.5002 28. Michael Patrizi Ford Falcon BF 0:58.0029 + 0.8167 29. Mark McNally Holden Commodore VE 0:58.3131 + 1.1269
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