Will Davison/Steve Owen secure Sandown 500 pole

Will Davison has steered his Ford Performance Racing Falcon to pole position for tomorrow’s Wilson Security Sandown 500. The Pepsi Max Crew pilot capitalised on a fantastic performance from his co-driver, Steve Owen, to lead the entire 60 kilometer second heat featuring the full-time drivers.

Davison led home Red Bull Racing Australia’s Jamie Whincup, with the #1 VF Commodore completing the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s race. The second Red Bull-backed Commodore, piloted by Craig Lowndes and Warren Luff, rounded out the top three on the grid ahead of the first leg of the inaugural PIRTEK Enduro Cup.

Earlier, Jamie Whincup was far superior in the opening 20 minute qualifying session, eclipsing his own lap record from the prior practice session with a scintillating time of 1.08.62. The reigning champion managed to set the time even after an inopportune meeting with the Team BOC Commodore of Jason Bright forced him to take a shallow line out of the final corner. DJR’s Chaz Mostert managed the second fastest time in the session, while Scott McLaughlin occupied third position a further two tenths off Whincup’s time.

Upon the opening qualifying race for the co-drivers, DJR’s Dale Wood jumped the Red Bull Racing Australia Commodore of Paul Dumbrell off the line. However, Wood’s lead was short-lived after the reigning Bathurst champion reclaimed control of the race on the second lap. From there, Dumbrell eased Jamie Whincup’s #1 Commodore to the chequered flag a further four seconds ahead of Will Davison’s co-driver, Steve Owen, in the #6 Pepsi Max Crew Falcon. Chaz Mostert would start the second qualifying race from third on the grid thanks to a solid drive from Dale Wood.

Action was aplenty throughout the opening qualifying race. Scott Pye’s co-driver, Paul Morris, clashed with the second Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport Commodore of Matt Halliday, sending the latter’s Dodo Insurance entry into a spin. Ash Walsh, sharing the #17 DJR Falcon with Tim Blanchard, suffered a bonnet failure on the 14th lap restart, while Jeroen Bleekemolen was forced to stop the #97 Tekno Autosport Commodore after a suspected gearbox problem.

Three other co-drivers faced adversity throughout the opening 60 kilometre leg. Walkinshaw Racing’s Ryan Briscoe was turned around by the Wilson Security Commodore of Chris Pither, while Erebus’ Craig Baird came off second best after contact with Andrew Jones for Team BOC in the final moments. Tony D’Alberto’s co-driver, Jonny Reid, was also unable to see the chequered flag in the opening leg due to a sticking throttle.

The second qualifying leg, featuring the regular-season drivers, was similarly eventful albeit with fewer retirements. Garth Tander experienced an awful start in his #2 HRT Commodore, falling to 16th position after starting from 4th on the grid. With the field dodging Tander’s labouring HRT entry, a four-wide squeeze resulted in spins for Maro Engel’s Erebus-prepared Mercedes and the LDM Commodore of Dean Fiore at Turn 1. Alex Davison was forced to pit after sustaining damage in the fracas, and will subsequently start the race from 27th on the grid.

At the conclusion of proceedings, Mark Winterbottom had reserved 4th position on the grid for tomorrow’s race after starting the final 60 kilometre qualifying leg in 7th position. The FPR pilot passed Chaz Mostert with only two laps remaining, with the latter claiming 5th on the grid for Dick Johnson Racing. David Reynolds rounded out the top six for Ford Performance Racing in his Bottle-O backed FG Falcon.

The #22 HRT Commodore of James Courtney and Greg Murphy will start from 7th on the grid alongside the Heavy Haulage Australia Racing Mercedes of Tim Slade and Andrew Thompson. Scott McLaughlin ensured that the #33 Garry Rogers Motorsport Commodore would start from a favourable 9th position for tomorrow’s race, while Todd Kelly fought hard to reserve 10th on the grid in his Jack Daniels Nissan Altima.

Notable entries starting the Wilson Security Sandown 500 from outside the top-10 include both of the championship-contending BJR Commodores of Jason Bright and Fabian Coulthard. The Team BOC and Lockwood Racing entries will start from 11th and 15th on the grid respectively. Garth Tander and Nick Percat could only muster 13th position on the grid in the second Holden Racing Team Commodore, while Shane van Gisbergen and Jeroen Bleekemolen for Tekno Autosports will start alongside in the 14th grid position.

The V8 Supercars hit the Sandown bitumen at 11.05am tomorrow for a 20 minute warm-up session before the 500 kilometre race kicks off at 1.35pm local time.