MOTORSPORT: Holdens blitz Bathurst 1000 qualifying
Coulthard and Van Gisbergen prove Kiwis can fly as they shatter V8 Supercar qualifying record at Bathurst; Whincup to start from back of gridNew Zealanders Fabian Coulthard and Shane Van Gisbergen blitzed the field in Friday afternoon's session, both more than a second faster than Greg Murphy's famous 2003 "Lap of the Gods".
Coulthard clocked 2 minutes 5.6080 seconds in his Brad Jones Racing Commodore.
"Track lap record... it takes a bit to get me excited, but I'm excited!" Coulthard said.
Van Gisbergen's best, less than a tenth of a second slower at 2:05:7011, came soon after both sides of his Tekno Autosports Commodore clipped walls coming through The Dipper.
Dale Wood was a shock third in another BJR Holden, but more than 0.6 seconds behind Coulthard, with last year's race winner Mark Winterbottom the best of the Ford drivers in fourth – close behind Wood.
Winterbottom had broken the 2 minute 6 second barrier in final practice but could not repeat it in qualifying. His time from earlier in the day was 2:05.9011 but in qualifying he clocked only 2:06.556.
Championship leader Jamie Whincup will start on the last row of the grid after crashing his Holden at The Cutting, with Thursday pacesetter David Reynolds alongside him on the back row after severely damaging the right rear of his Ford in a huge shunt at Reid Park.
"We've got to look at the positives ... people can win it from last and I definitely think I can," Reynolds said.
Scott McLaughlin was the third New Zealander in the top five in the qualifying debut of the Volvo S60 at Bathurst, while Jason Bright made it three BJR Holdens in the top six.
Another surprise in the top 10 was Jack Perkins, seventh in a Ford Falcon, with James Moffat next in the best of the four Nissan Altimas in the 26-car field.
Perkins and Moffat are the sons of Bathurst legends Larry Perkins and Allan Moffat.
Veterans Garth Tander and Craig Lowndes rounded out the top 10 in Holdens – Lowndes scraping in as the chequered flag waved on the session.
The Top 10 Shootout between 5.10pm and 5.55pm Saturday will determine the final order of the first five rows of the grid for Sunday's Great Race.
Among the notables who failed to make the Shootout was Tander's Holden Racing Team colleague James Courtney in 11th, while Will Davison and Lee Holdsworth qualified the two Mercedes E63s in the field start 18th and 19th.
The first 14 cars beat Murphy's 2003 record, with the times greatly assisted by the resurfacing of the 6.2km circuit since last year's event.
Bathurst qualifying results can be found at the V8 Supercars.
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