Whincup takes narrow pole

Whincup was fifth in regular qualifying but jumped to the top of the times in the shootout, just edging out Ford Performance Racing's Mark Winterbottom by 0.0061 of a second.

Six-hundredths of a second behind them was Jim Beam Racing's James Courtney, with Holden Racing Team's Garth Tander just over a tenth of a second off pole. Whincup's team-mate Craig Lowndes completed the top five.

Steven Johnson, Shane van Gisbergen and Fabian Coulthard were next in the order, while Jason Bright will start ninth after setting the fastest time leading into the shootout.

Some of the drivers who failed to make the shootout included Lee Holdsworth in 11th, Will Davison in 13th and Russell Ingall in 14th, with the second FPR car of Steven Richards down in 16th.

While Todd Kelly set the tenth fastest time, his brother Rick had suspension dramas and will start from almost the back of the grid in 28th position.

Pos  Driver                Car                   Time
 1.  Jamie Whincup         Ford Falcon FG        1:10.8529
 2.  Mark Winterbottom     Ford Falcon FG        1:10.8590  + 0.0061
 3.  James Courtney        Ford Falcon FG        1:10.9178  + 0.0649
 4.  Garth Tander          Holden Commodore VE   1:10.9715  + 0.1186
 5.  Craig Lowndes         Ford Falcon FG        1:10.9888  + 0.1359
 6.  Steven Johnson        Ford Falcon FG        1:11.0443  + 0.1914
 7.  Shane Van Gisbergen   Ford Falcon FG        1:11.1024  + 0.2495
 8.  Fabian Coulthard      Ford Falcon FG        1:11.2470  + 0.3941
 9.  Jason Bright          Ford Falcon FG        1:11.3434  + 0.4905
10.  Todd Kelly            Holden Commodore VE   1:11.7262  + 0.8733
11.  Lee Holdsworth        Holden Commodore VE   1:11.1594  + 0.3065
12.  Alex Davison          Ford Falcon FG        1:11.1628  + 0.3099
13.  Will Davison          Holden Commodore VE   1:11.1797  + 0.3268
14.  Russell Ingall        Holden Commodore VE   1:11.2269  + 0.3740
15.  Michael Caruso        Holden Commodore VE   1:11.2708  + 0.4179
16.  Steven Richards       Ford Falcon FG        1:11.2987  + 0.4458
17.  Tim Slade             Holden Commodore VE   1:11.3086  + 0.4557
18.  Greg Murphy           Holden Commodore VE   1:11.4373  + 0.5844
19.  Michael Patrizi       Ford Falcon BF        1:11.6478  + 0.7949
20.  Jason Bargwanna       Holden Commodore VE   1:11.8072  + 0.9543
21.  Tony D'Alberto        Holden Commodore VE   1:11.7114  + 0.8585
22.  Cameron McConville    Holden Commodore VE   1:11.7394  + 0.8865
23.  Jason Richards        Holden Commodore VE   1:11.8350  + 0.9821
24.  Jack Perkins          Holden Commodore VE   1:11.8846  + 1.0317
25.  Paul Dumbrell         Holden Commodore VE   1:11.8909  + 1.0380
26.  David Reynolds        Holden Commodore VE   1:11.9033  + 1.0504
27.  Dean Fiore            Holden Commodore VE   1:12.3120  + 1.4591
28.  Rick Kelly            Holden Commodore VE   1:12.5234  + 1.6705
29.  Mark McNally          Holden Commodore VE   1:12.6775  + 1.8246