MOSTERT SCORES POLE WITH RECORD BATHURST SUPERCARS LAP

CHAZ Mostert scored pole position for the Repco Bathurst 1000 by resetting the Supercars lap record at Mount Panorama in the Top 10 Shootout.

The Walkinshaw Andretti Commodore driver was the eighth on track for the session and went to P1 with a sensational 2:03.3736s lap.

Mostert then watched on as subsequent runners Anton De Pasquale and Will Brown failed to better the time, slotting into second and fifth respectively.

EXCLUDED: Erebus cars dumped from Bathurst Shootout over tech breach

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AS IT HAPPENED: All the action from Bathurst 1000 Shootout day

That left Mostert with not only pole but the fastest Bathurst Supercars lap ever, eclipsing the 2:03.4813s that Scott McLaughlin recorded in Practice 5 in 2019.

Officially it’s a qualifying lap record, beating Cameron Waters’ 2:03.5592s from last year’s Shootout, and sits alongside Mostert’s own race lap record of 2:04.7602s.

Waters and Brodie Kostecki ended up third and fourth, while sixth through 10th was filled by Tim Slade, Shane van Gisbergen, Will Davison, Nick Percat and Jack Le Brocq.

“The car was just so enjoyable to drive, it’s been awesome all weekend,” beamed Mostert.

“To be honest, when I heard the times coming down from the other guys, I thought ‘wow, that’s getting fast.

“But I just blocked it all out and just drove to the grip level, and the car’s just been really responsive.

“I was pretty sure the dash was lying to me initially with the lap time gain, I’m going ‘oh, it’s green, it’s looking good. But it was just so fun, felt very GT-ish around here, a lot of fun.”

It was a Top 10 Shootout that built beautifully, as each of the first six runners went to the top of the order.

Tickford Racing’s Le Brocq set the initial benchmark at 2:05.3313s, before Percat became the first to dip into the 2:04s in his last qualifying session with Brad Jones Racing.

Davison went marginally quicker despite a big slide at Turn 1, then fourth runner van Gisbergen lowered the time to 2:04.3648s after a mistake of his own.

“I mucked up at the Elbow and hit the inside wall, it was rattling, and all bent so I was a bit soft into the Chase,” he explained.

Kostecki immediately blew that time away, bringing the crowd to life as he flung the #99 Erebus Holden across the Mountain to record an impressive 2:03.7733s.

Waters then took even more risk, grazing the concrete at the exit of The Cutting and the entry to McPhillamy Park before catching a big slide on the entry to Forrest Elbow.

He shaved 0.0869s from Kostecki’s effort, raising hopes of a second straight Bathurst pole for the Monster Mustang.

“I knew the car had it in it, I just had to put it all together and stop driving terrible like I have been on all my other green tyres,” said Waters.

Slade was the first to fail to beat his predecessors as he slotted into third behind Waters and Kosteck, before Mostert put down his incredible 2:03.3736s.

That proved too quick for De Pasquale, who was 0.2898s adrift in second, and Brown, who failed to repeat his Friday qualifying heroics.

Mostert now has two Bathurst 1000 poles to his name, although it’ll be the first time his car starts from pole position.

The then Tickford driver inherited the 2019 pole when McLaughlin’s Mustang was disqualified from the session for a technical infringement following the event.

The full field of Supercars will return to the track for a warm-up at 9:10am on Sunday morning, ahead of the race start at 12:15pm.

RESULTS: Top 10 Shootout, 2021 Repco Bathurst 1000

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