Maiden Adelaide pole for Courtney
Jeld-Wen Motorsport's James Courtney claimed his first pole position as he set the fastest time in qualifying for tomorrow's race one of the Clipsal 500 in the Adelaide Parklands
Courtney, in his second season in V8 Supercar, took pole position by just over a tenth of a second from last year's Clipsal 500 winner, Team Vodafone's Jamie Whincup, setting up an all-Ford front row for the first time in the event's nine-year history.
Next fastest was Garth Tander in his Toll HSV Holden, the first of the new VE Commodores, with Ford Performance Racing's Mark Winterbottom and Tasman Motorsport's Jason Richards completing the top five.
The Formula One-style qualifying saw the top nine cars separated by less than four tenths of a second in the final session, while some expected front runners never made it that far.
Reigning V8 Supercar champion Rick Kelly will start 15th, one place ahead of Ford Performance Racing's Steven Richards, with multiple series champion Mark Skaife next in his Holden Racing Team machine. All three had teammates in the top ten shootout, two of them starting in the top four.
The two rookies for Jack Daniel's Racing struggled on their V8 Supercar debut, Jack Perkins in 26th and Shane Price 31st and last. Meanwhile Jason Bright, in his first drive for his own Britek team, performed strongly and will start 12th after being fastest in the first of the three qualifying sessions.
Pos Driver Car 1. James Courtney Ford Falcon BF 2. Jamie Whincup Ford Falcon BF 3. Garth Tander Holden Commodore VE 4. Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon BF 5. Jason Richards Holden Commodore VE 6. Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon BF 7. Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VE 8. Russell Ingall Ford Falcon BF 9. Steven Johnson Ford Falcon BF 10. Lee Holdsworth Holden Commodore VZ 11. Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VE 12. Jason Bright Ford Falcon BF 13. Will Davison Ford Falcon BF 14. Dean Canto Holden Commodore VE 15. Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VE 16. Steven Richards Ford Falcon BF 17. Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VE 18. Andrew Jones Ford Falcon BF 19. Jason Bargwanna Ford Falcon BF 20. Paul Dumbrell Holden Commodore VE 21. John Bowe Ford Falcon BF 22. Paul Morris Holden Commodore VE 23. Max Wilson Ford Falcon BF 24. Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VZ 25. Fabian Coulthard Holden Commodore VZ 26. Jack Perkins Holden Commodore VZ 27. Alan Gurr Ford Falcon BF 28. Brad Jones Ford Falcon BF 29. Steve Owen Holden Commodore VZ 30. Adam Macrow Ford Falcon BF 31. Shane Price Holden Commodore VE
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