Mixed conditions see Chaz Mostert muscle his way to pole

Tickford Racing’s Chaz Mostert has taken pole position for this afternoon’s Supercars Championship race at Winton Motor Raceway after mastering the wet/dry conditions.

In a mixed bag of weather at the country Victoria circuit, the Mustang man came out on top at the end of the third qualifying session, taking his fifth pole at the venue.

A happy hunting ground for Mostert, his top-class pace in damp and greasy conditions was evident right from the first session of the day, carrying that across to qualifying to take pole.

Practice 1
The morning’s pre-qualifying which set the top ten drivers who automatically got through to the second qualifying session started in the wet after showers all morning dampened the Victorian circuit.

Around halfway through the 40 minute session, the sun started to come out and the field moved over to slick tyres, times tumbling with a dry groove forming on the racing line.

Towards the end, DJR Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin and Tickford Racing’s Chaz Mostert traded times at the top of the order while some struggled to jump up into the top ten.

In the dying minutes, a spin and subsequent crash at Turn 6 for Richie Stanaway brought out the red flag and forced Garry Rogers Motorsport to put in a lot of hard work before qualifying to get the #33 straight again.

After the 40 minute hit-out Mostert, McLaughlin, Lee Holdsworth, James Courtney, Rick Kelly, Shane van Gisbergen, Scott Pye, Jamie Whincup, Cam Waters and Mark Winterbottom all bought their ticket into qualifying two while the rest of the field were forced to take part in the first session.

Qualifying 1
Starting in damp conditions after an earlier shower, the first 10 minute session saw 15 drivers fight it out for the top five spots to make their way through to the next portion of qualifying.

All the field left the pits on wet tyres, wanting to clear the track for their last runs pending the incoming weather. Fabian Coulthard’s first lap of 1:33.3 put the DJR Team Penske driver around 13 seconds down on Chaz Mostert’s time in the morning’s practice session thanks to the wet track.

The final minutes of the session saw a dry line start to appear around the circuit with times subsequently dropping, leaving it to be a last-lap dash to ensure a spot in the next qualifying session.

As everyone started their last laps, the rain hit again, locking in the order to advance through. Coulthard ended on top of the session with David Reynolds, Garry Jacobson, Anton de Pasquale and James Golding moving on.

Knocked out after the conclusion of the session, Will Davison, Nick Percat, Richie Stanaway, Tim Slade, Macauley Jones, Andre Heimgartner, Simona de Silvestro, Todd Hazelwood, Jack Smith and Jack Le Brocq all had to park up until the start of the race.

Qualifying 2
The sun decided to make an appearance as the cars hit the track for the second qualifying session though the quick shower prior to the green flag ensured that everyone would have to start on wet tyres.

Towards the end of the ten minutes, the two Erebus Motorsport Holden Commodores looked to excel in the mixed bag conditions, Anton de Pasquale to the top of the order and shortly being pipped by team-mate David Reynolds.

From there the times tumbled further with the Tickford duo of Chaz Mostert and Cam Waters jumping to the top, shortly being eclipsed by DJR Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard in a mad rush at the death.

The stressful run to the end saw some big names miss out on making the top ten with Waters, Shane van Gisbergen, de Pasquale, Lee Holdsworth and Rick Kelly failing to improve at the end of the 10 minutes.

Mostert’s final lap moved him to the top, just 0.008 of a second clear of McLaughlin who led Reynolds, Coulthard, Whincup, Scott Pye, Mark Winterbottom, James Courtney, Garry Jacobson and James Golding into the final session.

Qualifying 3
With improved conditions at the start of the final session to set the grid, the whole pack started on the super soft Dunlop rubber, looking to stay on the dry line and not fall off it around the lap.

The first flying laps were noticeably faster than those of the previous session and the Mustang battle between Mostert and McLaughlin was initially split by less than a tenth of a second.

McLaughlin reclaimed provisional pole and kept lowering the bar with every lap that passed, getting a half second margin to team-mate Coulthard with only a few minutes to go as everyone was starting to gear up for their final runs.

Now bathing in sunshine in the dying minutes, everyone hit the track for one clear, dry lap at the end of the ten minutes. Coulthard jumped back to the top and improved on his own time, setting a benchmark of 1:20.892 for everyone to chase.

McLaughlin put in the quickest first sector but threw it away in the second, leaving himself vulnerable and dropping down the order as the timer hit zero.

On his final lap, Mostert went to the top of the timesheets, a 1:20.622 good enough for pole some two and a half tenths clear of Coulthard.

Reynolds finished the session in third, starting alongside Courtney on the second row while championship leader McLaughlin had to settle for fifth. Winterbottom, Pye, Jacobson, Golding and Whincup rounded out the top ten, finalising the first five rows of the grid.