Jamie Whincup on provisional pole ahead of opening Newcastle shootout
Friday’s pacesetter Jamie Whincup has been able to put his Triple Eight Holden Commodore on provisional pole for this afternoon’s first Newcastle 500 race after going quickest in the Saturday qualifying session.
Off the back of being the fastest man on Friday afternoon, Whincup was strong late in the Saturday session, working his way to the top of the order and staying there thanks to the fastest lap of the weekend so far.
Lower track temperatures from Friday’s running and an absence of wind meant the circuit was faster than the day before, becoming evident with Whincup beating his quickest time from yesterday by a quarter of a second in the #88 Holden.
With qualifying setting the order for the Top Ten Shootout later in the day, Whincup will be able to roll out as the last car as the question of weather and potential rain looms over the Newcastle track.
Returning from spending Friday afternoon at the hospital thanks to a bout of gastro, Scott Pye triggered the only red flag of the session after sticking the #2 Walkinshaw Andretti United car into the Turn 7 tyre barrier.
Though Pye was able to back out of the wall and return to the pits, the session was halted and his best lap time was deleted, moving him to the back of the order after being in 15th at the time of the crash.
With just under ten minutes to go, the session resumed with Anton de Pasquale at the top of the order for Erebus Motorsport, closely followed by the top ten who were all within two-tenths of his fastest time.
Putting in his quickest time before the final runs, Whincup sat at the top of the order and in the pits when the rest of the field was out on track, trying to beat the seven-time series champion’s benchmark.
As the chequered flag came out, the order shuffled massively with the top two championship contenders in DJR Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin and Triple Eight’s Shane van Gisbergen on the bubble of missing the top ten, both just managing to scrape through to the shootout.
Whincup’s time stood at the top with de Pasquale slotting in behind him, heading up Cam Waters’ Tickford Racing Mustang for third. DJR Team Penske was able to get both of their cars in the top ten with Fabian Coulthard in fourth, edging Tickford’s Lee Holdsworth.
Tim Slade was able to get his Brad Jones Racing car into the shootout while James Courtney snuck into seventh place, putting the Walkinshaw Andretti United #22 just in front of McLaughlin. Erebus Motorsports’ David Reynolds was able to squeeze between McLaughlin and van Gisbergen for the penultimate spot in the ten.
Mark Winterbottom in the Team 18 car was only just pushed outside of the bubble by Shane van Gisbergen, being joined on the sidelines for the shootout by Chaz Mostert who was the slowest of the Tickford cars in 16th.
The Top Ten Shootout will get underway at 1310 local time.
