Shane van Gisbergen goes from tenth to first in Newcastle shootout

Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Shane van Gisbergen has pulled off a miracle in the Top Ten Shootout for the opening Newcastle 500 outing this afternoon by going from tenth in qualifying to being on pole position.

The Kiwi struggled in qualifying earlier in the day, only just getting in to the shootout at the expense of Team 18’s Mark Winterbottom, before being the first on the road in the single-driver outing.

With a decent setup change over the break, van Gisbergen set the marker for the other nine cars to chase in the session. A clean and rapid lap of 1:10.1747 was faster than team-mate Jamie Whincup’s lap for provisional pole, giving his rivals a hard task to take the top spot.

David Reynolds was the next car to roll out, being the first of the Erebus entries to take to the circuit. Not pushing as hard as van Gisbergen but still keeping the #9 Commodore straight, Reynolds finished his lap just under four tenths of a second down on the #97.

Series champion Scott McLaughlin left the lane in the DJR Team Penske #17, looking to improve on his provisional position of eighth on the grid. A quick first sector and solid middle portion of the lap put him in good stead to take pole but he lost time at the end of the lap, coming up under a tenth shy of his fellow Kiwi.

Being the only Walkinshaw Andretti United car in the shootout, James Courtney had a used front left tyre on his Commodore and came out of the first sector only marginally down on McLaughlin. A lock-up into the Turn 11 hairpin meant he lost a bit of time, coming home just behind Reynolds.

Brad Jones Racing’s only representative in Tim Slade hit the circuit, qualifying a respectable sixth in the day’s earlier session and going out for the shootout on brand new Dunlop tyres. Despite the fresh rubber, he was unable to challenge the other runners, going six-tenths slower than van Gisbergen and ending up slower than Courtney’s time.

Fresh off the back of a drought-breaking podium at Sandown, Lee Holdsworth was the first of two Tickford Racing entries on track, going out on used tyres all round. With a slow first sector, Holdsworth’s lap was below the expected outcome from the get-go, finishing his run in last behind Slade.

Looking to do his bit for DJR Team Penske’s team’s championship campaign, Fabian Coulthard set off on his lap, wanting to get himself amongst his fellow Kiwis at the top of the order. Solid sectors across the lap put him behind team-mate McLaughlin, provisionally in third place with three cars yet to come out.

As the last of the Ford Mustang drivers, Cam Waters wanted to capitalise on a third placing in Friday practice and qualifying for Tickford after strong showings in previous rounds. Waters was able to put in a faster first sector than van Gisbergen, dropping the slimmest amount of time in the middle of the lap and then a little more in the last sector, putting himself between the two DJR Team Penske entries.

Anton de Pasquale headed out as the penultimate runner, the Erebus young gun proving his worth by getting to second in qualifying. A clean and consistent lap put the sophomore driver up into fourth provisionally on the grid, two spots ahead of team-mate Reynolds.

Finally the seven-time series champion Jamie Whincup rolled out of the pit lane for his shootout lap, wanting to keep pole after a strong qualifying lap. Chasing down his team-mate van Gisbergen’s time, Whincup pushed hard and despite a mistake at Turn 2, went fastest in the first sector before losing a small amount of time over the rest of the lap, winding up between McLaughlin and Waters in third.

Despite the championship being settled, the top two in the title race and last year’s protagonists around the Newcastle streets will start side-by-side on the front row this afternoon, both looking to help their teams get a leg up in the team’s race.

With McLaughlin and Coulthard starting second and sixth for DJR Team Penske, the Ford team could be under fire from the in-form Triple Eight drivers as van Gisbergen and Whincup start the race from first and third, only 116 points down in the team’s championship with two races to run.

Race 31 will start at 1615 local time and run for up to 95 laps.