The Red Bull Holden Racing Team have locked out pole for race one and race two of the Beaurepaires Melbourne 400; Shane van Gisbergen claiming pole for the opener and Jamie Whincup clocking the quickest time in the second session.
The short 10-minute period for each qualifier, the long lap of over two minutes, and a high level of tyre degradation meant a pair of fast and furious tests in ability.
The first representative lap-time in qualifying one was a 1:55.224 from van Gisbergen. By the time the field had cycled through their first laps, the 2016 champ led teammate Jamie Whincup (who was fast despite clouting the wall at the back side of the circuit), Will Davison, Scott McLaughlin, and an impressive Andre Heimgartner.
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That top five remained static as the session closed — the amount of degradation on the Dunlop soft tyres underlined by David Reynolds' inability to improve beyond 17th on his second lap.
His teammate Anton de Pasquale ended up sixth, ahead of Nick Percat, Cameron Waters, Lee Holdsworth, and Chaz Mostert. Fabian Coulthard and Chris Pither rounded out the Kiwis in 12th and 18th.
The second session, meanwhile, was topped early by McLaughlin, only for van Gisbergen and then a blistering Whincup to climb over the top of the defending Melbourne winner. Whincup's 1:55.2809 proved to be unbeatable, while the Tickford duo of Waters and Will Davison lobbed their cars into second and third to split the Red Bull pair.
The wildcard from qualifying two was Mostert, who had skipped the initial cycle to run all by himself in the final few minutes as everyone else sat in pit-lane. He produced the fastest first sector and faded a little in the middle sector, before eventually cementing himself in seventh behind the much improved Reynolds.
Holdsworth, Heimgartner, and Coulthard rounded out the top 10, while Pither completed the Kiwi contingent in 23rd.
Qualifying, Beaurepairs Melbourne 400, Race 1
1. Shane van Gisbergen
2. Jamie Whincup
3. Will Davison
4. Scott McLaughlin
5. Andre Heimgartner
6. Anton de Pasquale
7. Nick Percat
8. Cameron Waters
9. Lee Holdsworth
10. Chaz Mostert
11. Mark Winterbottom
12. Fabian Coulthard
13. Rick Kelly
14. Scott Pye
15. Jack Le Brocq
16. Todd Hazelwood
17. David Reynolds
18. Chris Pither
19. Garry Jacobson
20. Alex Davison
21. Bryce Fullwood
22. Jack Smith
23. Jake Kostecki
Qualifying, Beaurepairs Melbourne 400, Race 2
1. Jamie Whincup
2. Cameron Waters
3. Will Davison
4. Shane van Gisbergen
5. Scott McLaughlin
6. David Reynolds
7. Chaz Mostert
8. Lee Holdsworth
9. Andre Heimgartner
10. Fabian Coulthard
11. Anton de Pasquale
12. Garry Jacobson
13. Todd Hazelwood
14. Jack Le Brocq
15. Mark Winterbottom
16. Nick Percat
17. Rick Kelly
18. Bryce Fullwood
19. Scott Pye
20. Alex Davison
21. Jake Kostecki
22. Chris Pither