Skaife takes Bathurst pole

Skaife was just 0.035 of a second up at Forrest's Elbow but extended the margin down Conrod Straight and to the finish line to take pole position by just over three tenths of a second in his Holden Racing Team Commodore.

Alongside him on the front row will be archrival Ford Performance Racing in the form of Jason Bright's Falcon. He edged out Toll HSV Dealer Team's Rick Kelly to prevent an all-Holden front row.

A pair of unrelated Richards were next, Tasman Motorsports Jason Richards almost half a second ahead of Jack Daniel's Racing's Steven Richards, as Holden filled four of the top five places on the grid.

The gap back to points leader Craig Lowndes in his Triple Eight Falcon was much smaller however, just 0.0004 seconds slower than Steven Richards as last year's pole man couldn't find the same pace in 2006.

The remained of the order was completed by Dean Canto, Greg Murphy (whose fastest-ever lap record remains intact), Russell Ingall and Steven Johnson.

Pos  Driver             Car                    Time
 1.  Mark Skaife        Holden Commodore VZ    2:07.4221 
 2.  Jason Bright       Ford Falcon BA         2:07.7292  + 0.3071
 3.  Rick Kelly         Holden Commodore VZ    2:07.7919  + 0.3698
 4.  Jason Richards     Holden Commodore VZ    2:08.0657  + 0.6436
 5.  Steven Richards    Holden Commodore VZ    2:08.5399  + 1.1178
 6.  Craig Lowndes      Ford Falcon BA         2:08.5403  + 1.1182
 7.  Dean Canto         Holden Commodore VZ    2:08.5841  + 1.1620
 8.  Greg Murphy        Holden Commodore VZ    2:08.6663  + 1.2442
 9.  Russell Ingall     Ford Falcon BA         2:09.0987  + 1.6766
10.  Steven Johnson     Ford Falcon BA         2:09.5437  + 2.1216