Supercars Bathurst 1000: Mostert breaks lap record for pole
Chaz Mostert set the fastest ever Supercars lap around Mount Panorama to grab the Bathurst 1000 pole for himself and Walkinshaw Andretti United co-driver Lee Holdsworth.
Mostert, who clinched the TCR Australia title at the track earlier this week, set a record-breaking 2m03.373s to top a thrilling top 10 shootout.
That effort was a little over a tenth quicker than the previous qualifying record set by Scott McLaughlin in 2019.
Mostert's lap is even better than McLaughlin's 2019 Shootout time of 2m03.378s, which was later scrubbed due to a technical breach.
The battle for pole was enthralling, with five drivers under the 2m04s mark. Erebus Holden driver Brodie Kostecki's initial benchmark was beaten by the Tickford Ford of Cam Waters, who posted a 2m03.686s that was then surpassed by Mostert's remarkable record-breaker.
Anton De Pasquale did his best to run down Mostert's time, but fell just under three tenths short to end up on the outside of the front row in his Dick Johnson Racing Ford.
Provisional polesitter Will Brown, running last, then posted a 2m03.992 which was only good enough for fifth fastest behind Waters and Kostecki.
"The car was so just so enjoyable to drive," said Mostert.
"When I heard the times coming down from the other guys I thought, 'wow, that's getting fast'. I just blocked it all out and drove to the grip level.
"I was pretty sure my dash was lying to me initially with the lap time gain. It was just so fun. [The car] felt very GT-ish."
Chaz Mostert, Walkinshaw Andretti United Holden
Photo by: Edge Photographics
Both Erebus cars of Kostecki and Brown were then thrown out of the shootout for failing post-session technical checks.
A statement from the team the cars have since been disqualified for doors that were too light, despite the cars meeting the overall minimum weight requirements, meaning Kostecki/David Russell and Brown/Jack Perkins will start ninth and 10th.
Tim Slade qualified sixth with a 2m04.050s, but will be elevated to fourth by the demotion of the Erebus cars, while reigning winners Shane van Gisbergen and Garth Tander will start fifth.
Newly-crowned champion van Gisbergen was left disgusted with himself for tagging the inside wall at Forrest Elbow, leaving him down in seventh on the timesheets.
Will Davison was eighth fastest in the Shootout ahead of Nick Percat and Jack Le Brocq.
Jamie Whincup missed out on a Shootout berth for what is his final event as a full-time driver and will start 11th with co-driver Craig Lowndes.
Supercars Bathurst 1000 Top 10 shootout times:
| Cla | # | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 |  Chaz Mostert Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore ZB | 2'03.373 | ||
| 2 | 11 | Anton De Pasquale Tony D’Alberto | Ford Mustang GT | 2'03.663 | 0.289 | 0.289 |
| 3 | 6 | Cameron Waters James Moffat | Ford Mustang GT | 2'03.686 | 0.312 | 0.023 |
| 4 | 99 | Brodie Kostecki David Russell | Holden Commodore ZB | 2'03.773 | 0.399 | 0.086 |
| 5 | 9 | Will Brown Jack Perkins | Holden Commodore ZB | 2'03.992 | 0.618 | 0.218 |
| 6 | 3 | Tim Slade Tim Blanchard | Ford Mustang GT | 2'04.050 | 0.677 | 0.058 |
| 7 | 888 |  Shane van Gisbergen Garth Tander | Holden Commodore ZB | 2'04.364 | 0.991 | 0.314 |
| 8 | 17 | Will Davison Alex Davison | Ford Mustang GT | 2'04.778 | 1.405 | 0.413 |
| 9 | 8 | Nick Percat Dale Wood | Holden Commodore ZB | 2'04.898 | 1.525 | 0.120 |
| 10 | 5 | Jack Le Brocq Zak Best | Ford Mustang GT | 2'05.331 | 1.957 | 0.432 |
| View full results | ||||||
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