Photo: Erebus Motorsport

David Reynolds beats Jamie Whincup by 0.009 sec to Bathurst 1000 pole

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David Reynolds claimed pole position for the 2018 Bathurst 1000 race after beating Jamie Whincup by a mere nine thousands of a second in the top ten shootout.

The Erebus Motorsport driver lapped the circuit in 2:04.0589 and team-mate Anton De Pasquale made it a strong result for the team by claiming third on the grid, 0.2909 seconds from pole. De Pasquale is the first rookie driver to make it to the shootout since 2002.

Triple Eight Race Engineering driver and championship leader Shane van Gisbergen claimed fourth spot on the grid, close to half a second from pole.

Scott McLaughlin, who claimed last year’s pole, recorded the fastest second sector and looked set for a strong lap until he missed the apex at the Chase. The DJR Team Penske driver had to settle for fifth on the grid, 0.4905 seconds from Reynolds.

Cameron Waters was sixth fastest for Tickford Racing with Nick Percat in seventh. Holden driver James Courtney was the final driver to set a lap time within a second from pole in eighth position while Triple Eight driver Craig Lowndes was ninth.

Garry Rogers Motorsport driver Garth Tander, who was first on track, claimed tenth position, 1.1 seconds from pole.

The 1000 km race starts at 11:10 local time/02:10 CEST tomorrow.