THIS is how the Supercars grid will look when the 2020 Bathurst 1000 starts on Sunday morning.
UPDATE: Nick Percat has been disqualified from the Top 10 Shootout over a weight infringement; the grid below has been updated to reflect his new starting position.
Cameron Waters romped to his first pole position in the ‘Great Race’, wheeling out the first ‘three’ of the weekend at the perfect time; his 2m03.5592s lap gave him a margin of 0.4429s over the field.
However, he and teammate Will Davison will have to overcome a history of bad luck to befall pole-winning Tickford Racing entries, and a history that doesn’t favour Fords that start the race from pole position.
Next best is the reigning champion, Scott McLaughlin missing a ‘three’ of his own by 0.0021 of a second but pipping the Holden of Chaz Mostert to secure an all-Ford front row after a dramatic Shootout in which the heavily forecast rain never eventuated.
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EARLY START: Bathurst 1000 race start time changed due to weather
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Provisional polesitter Lee Holdsworth struggled for front tyre grip throughout his lap and slid to sixth, while neither of the Triple Eight drivers challenged for the top spot in the end; Shane van Gisbergen missed the apex at the Chase and ended up fifth, while Jamie Whincup ran off the road at the same spot and will start ninth.
Nick Percat soared from 10th to fourth with a stunning lap as the first driver out of the gate, only to be excluded for being two kilograms under the minimum weight limit for car and driver in full apparel when it was measured after his lap, relegating the #8 Holden back to 10th on the grid.
Several big-name combinations will start outside the top 10, including 2017 race winner David Reynolds and Will Brown from 13th, 2013 race winner Mark Winterbottom and James Golding from 18th, and 2003/2004 winner Rick Kelly and Dale Wood from 19th.
Starting down the field is not always a hindrance; three out of the last six Bathurst 1000s have been won from 15th or worse on the grid, while the car that starts on grid position #1 has only taken victory twice since 2009.
The forecast wet weather may not necessarily produce an upset winner either: the most recent rain-hit Bathurst 1000 in 2017 was won by the car that started from second place on the grid.
The Bathurst 1000 will start on Sunday morning at 11:00am AEDT.
THE GRID – 2020 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000
Pos | Car # | Driver | Co-driver | Car | Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 6 | Cameron Waters | Will Davison | Ford | 2m03.5592s |
2 | 17 | Scott McLaughlin | Tim Slade | Ford | 2m04.0021s |
3 | 25 | Chaz Mostert | Warren Luff | Holden | 2m04.0100s |
4 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Garth Tander | Holden | 2m04.4511s |
5 | 5 | Lee Holdsworth | Michael Caruso | Ford | 2m04.6765s |
6 | 99 | Anton De Pasquale | Brodie Kostecki | Holden | 2m04.7688s |
7 | 12 | Fabian Coulthard | Tony D’Alberto | Ford | 2m04.8534s |
8 | 44 | James Courtney | Broc Feeney | Ford | 2m05.3549s |
9 | 888 | Jamie Whincup | Craig Lowndes | Holden | 2m06.3941s |
10 | 8 | Nick Percat | Thomas Randle | Holden | EXC |
11 | 2 | Bryce Fullwood | Kurt Kostecki | Holden | 2m04.6050s |
12 | 20 | Scott Pye | Dean Fiore | Holden | 2m04.6320s |
13 | 9 | David Reynolds | Will Brown | Holden | 2m04.6730s |
14 | 7 | Andre Heimgartner | Dylan O’Keeffe | Ford | 2m04.8530s |
15 | 55 | Jack Le Brocq | James Moffat | Ford | 2m04.9054s |
16 | 14 | Todd Hazelwood | Jordan Boys | Holden | 2m04.9729s |
17 | 3 | Macauley Jones | Tim Blanchard | Holden | 2m05.0374s |
18 | 18 | Mark Winterbottom | James Golding | Holden | 2m05.1734s |
19 | 15 | Rick Kelly | Dale Wood | Ford | 2m05.2592s |
20 | 19 | Alex Davison | Jonathon Webb | Holden | 2m05.3322s |
21 | 35 | Garry Jacobson | David Russell | Holden | 2m05.4142s |
22 | 4 | Jack Smith | Jack Perkins | Holden | 2m06.3498s |
23 | 22 | Chris Pither | Steve Owen | Holden | 2m06.3535s |
24 | 40 | Tyler Everingham | Jayden Ojeda | Holden | 2m06.6813s |
25 | 34 | Jake Kostecki | Zane Goddard | Holden | 2m15.1542s |