Rick Kelly takes Phillip Island pole

Kelly had struggled for pace in recent rounds but took pole with a time of 1:33.9437 with two minutes remaining, before lowering it by almost two tenths on his next lap to a 1:33.7596 to put it beyond reach of his rivals, helping to keep alive his slim title hopes.

Alongside him on the front row will be Holden Racing Team's Mark Skaife in a brand-new car built since the last round at Tasmania. He looked set for pole in his 200th series start when he did his time with four minutes remaining, but Kelly's effort was simply too fast.

Next on the grid is championship leader Jamie Whincup in his Team Vodafone Ford, just ahead of Skaife's teammate Todd Kelly. Fifth is Tasman Motorsport's Jason Richards, just ahead of Craig Lowndes in sixth, who during the second leg of qualifying looked like he might not even make the top ten.

Seventh on the grid, and somewhat of a surprise considering recent qualifying and race form, is the other championship contender, Garth Tander. Phillip Island is his worst qualifying since 9th at Hidden Valley in June, which is also the last time he was outqualified by his teammate.

Just behind Tander is Ford Performace Racing's Mark Winterbottom who also failed to show the pace he has in recent rounds, an off late in the final leg of qualifying not helping the situation. Russell Ingall and Will Davison round out the top ten.

Just outside the top ten is Jeld-Wen Motorsport's James Courtney, showing more pace, like teammate Ingall, after their disastrous qualifying in Tasmania, just ahead of Steven Richards and a good effort by Jason Bright.

However, it was not a good day for Jim Beam Racing's Steven Johnson, who will start from 22nd on the grid. Five places further back in 27th will be John Bowe, who this weekend will compete in his final round of the V8 Supercar series.

Pos  Driver                Car
 1.  Rick Kelly            Holden Commodore VE
 2.  Mark Skaife           Holden Commodore VE
 3.  Jamie Whincup         Ford Falcon BF
 4.  Todd Kelly            Holden Commodore VE
 5.  Jason Richards        Holden Commodore VE
 6.  Craig Lowndes         Ford Falcon BF
 7.  Garth Tander          Holden Commodore VE
 8.  Mark Winterbottom     Ford Falcon BF
 9.  Russell Ingall        Ford Falcon BF
10.  Will Davison          Ford Falcon BF
11.  James Courtney        Ford Falcon BF
12.  Steven Richards       Ford Falcon BF
13.  Jason Bright          Ford Falcon BF
14.  Lee Holdsworth        Holden Commodore VE
15.  Greg Murphy           Holden Commodore VE
16.  Shane van Gisbergen   Ford Falcon BF
17.  Shane Price           Holden Commodore VE
18.  Paul Morris           Holden Commodore VE
19.  Max Wilson            Ford Falcon BF
20.  Cameron McConville    Holden Commodore VE
21.  Steve Owen            Holden Commodore VZ
22.  Steven Johnson        Ford Falcon BF
23.  Andrew Jones          Ford Falcon BF
24.  Jason Bargwanna       Ford Falcon BF
25.  Marcus Marshall       Holden Commodore VE
26.  Dean Canto            Holden Commodore VE
27.  John Bowe             Ford Falcon BF
28.  Owen Kelly            Holden Commodore VZ
29.  Paul Dumbrell         Holden Commodore VE
30.  Simon Wills           Ford Falcon BF
31.  Alan Gurr             Ford Falcon BF