Chaz Mostert secures first pole with WAU at The Bend

Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert is celebrating his first pole position after moving to the Clayton-based team at the start of the year, going quickest in the Top 15 Shootout at The Bend to start this afternoon’s race from P1.

The former Bathurst 1000 winner was able to take his first pole for WAU after coming from outside of the top ten heading in to the shootout, pipping championship leader Scott McLaughlin to the top spot, just 0.005 ahead of the DJR Team Penske car.

Mostert’s lap remained relatively unchallenged with no one getting within half a second of him until Jamie Whincup, the Triple Eight driver running fourth last on the road and only just able to pip Anton de Pasquale who had provisionally put his Erebus #99 Commodore in third after being the first car out.

McLaughlin’s lap saw him get within one-thousandth of a second of Mostert’s by the end of the second sector, winding up half a hundredth behind him when the 5km lap was completed.

Provisionally qualifying on pole, Shane van Gisbergen was unable to convert the earlier qualifying pace to pole for Triple Eight, having to settle for third alongside team-mate Whincup in this afternoon’s race.

Fabian Coulthard put his DJRTP machine into fifth, just head of de Pasquale and Jack Le Brocq, the quickest of the Tickford drivers able to out-qualify the Kelly Racing Mustang of Rick Kelly by one spot. Their respective team-mates Lee Holdsworth and Andre Heimgartner will complete the top ten, starting off the fifth row of the grid.

Race 25 for the championship starts at 1515 local time.