Anton De Pasquale stunned the field in qualifying for the Supercars AirTouch 500 at The Bend, setting a fastest lap of 1:16.2710 to secure provisional pole. The Team 18 driver edged out Matthew Payne of Grove Racing by a mere 0.0069 seconds, the smallest of margins in such a competitive session.
The qualifying session was full of drama. De Pasquale himself admitted he was surprised to be at the top. "I'm a little bit surprised to be standing here with you guys," he said. "The car is a lot better now. We've still got a bit of work to do with the race car, but our one-lap car seems okay." Payne, who will start second, had to settle for the narrow gap, while his teammate Kai Allen completed the top three, 0.0903 seconds adrift.
Interestingly, the top 10 was dominated by Ford Mustang with six cars, while Chevrolet Camaro only sent four representatives. Broc Feeney from Triple Eight was the best Camaro in fourth, followed by surprise package Zach Bates from Matt Stone Racing in fifth. Meanwhile, Brodie Kostecki, Thomas Randle, Jayden Ojeda, Cameron Waters, and Jobe Stewart completed the top 10 who will battle in the shootout later this afternoon.
Contrasting performances between teammates were a highlight. At Team 18, De Pasquale celebrated while David Reynolds could only manage 16th. A similar story unfolded at Matt Stone Racing: Bates advanced to fifth, while Jack Le Brocq was stuck in 15th. Likewise, Jayden Ojeda impressed in eighth, while his PremiAir Racing teammate Declan Fraser languished in 24th. Meanwhile, reigning champion Chaz Mostert had to bury his ambitions after placing only 11th, the best among Toyota Supra drivers, none of whom made the shootout.
With this result, De Pasquale has a great chance to hold onto pole, but he knows the race will be a different test. "Our one-lap car seems okay. The shootout is heaps of fun, we'll land where we land and we're in the mix," he added. The Top 10 Shootout will take place at 5:00pm ACST and is expected to be fierce given the tight margins in qualifying.
Qualifying also dealt a blow to some big teams. Triple Eight had to accept that Will Brown could only manage 13th, far behind his teammate Feeney. Meanwhile, Erebus Motorsports showed solid pace with Jobe Stewart in 10th and Cooper Murray in 12th. The battle for the rest of the season is sure to heat up, especially with Ford's dominance beginning to show since practice.
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