SUPER2 delivered its usual dose of drama right on cue in Adelaide, creating an intriguing grid for the penultimate race of the season.
Walkinshaw Andretti United prodigy Ryan Wood added to his pole position tally with a 1:20.1648s but it was what happened behind that raised eyebrows.
The big winner of the session was Nash Morris, who secured a maiden front-row start.
Morris wound up 0.1201s adrift of Wood to smash his career-best Super2 qualifying result, which was eighth last month at Mount Panorama.
In 21 previous Super2 races, the 20-year-old has only thrice started top 10 in class.
It’s also a fine result for his race engineer Matt Saunders, who is on double duties this weekend as he guides Team 18’s Mark Winterbottom in the main game as well.
The session was brought to an abrupt end after Tickford Racing’s Brad Vaughan crashed out at Turn 8.
Vaughan had just set the fastest first sector of the session but was brought unstuck when he clipped the inside wall and was fired into the outside fence, the impact shifting the concrete barriers.
Coincidentally, Vaughan won the Super3 title last year in Adelaide after rival Kai Allen crashed out at Turn 8.
V8 Sleuth understands the damage sustained will force the #5 Mustang out of the remainder of the weekend.
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Allen is now in the 2023 Super2 title fight, 30 points behind Zak Best.
Best got the upper hand in qualifying; he’ll start tomorrow’s race third, three places ahead of Allen.
Cooper Murray and Zach Bates are wedged between the duo in fourth and fifth.
Jobe Stewart was best of the Super3 field in outright 15th.
The Dunlop Series will return to the track this afternoon for another qualifying session which will set the grid for Sunday’s race.
Super3 will take to the track from 4:50pm local time (5:20pm AEDT), before they make way for the Super2 contingent.
RESULTS: Qualifying for Race 1, Dunlop Series, Adelaide
| Pos | No. | Drivers | Car | Class | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Ryan Wood | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | 1m20.1648s |
| 2 | 67 | Nash Morris | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | +0.1201s |
| 3 | 17 | Zak Best | Ford Mustang GT | DS2 | +0.1546s |
| 4 | 88 | Cooper Murray | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | +0.2121s |
| 5 | 25 | Zach Bates | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | +0.2413s |
| 6 | 26 | Kai Allen | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | +0.2444s |
| 7 | 30 | Aaron Seton | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | +0.2596s |
| 8 | 5 | Brad Vaughan | Ford Mustang GT | DS2 | +0.2867s |
| 9 | 38 | Cameron Crick | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | +0.3106s |
| 10 | 27 | Aaron Cameron | Ford Mustang GT | DS2 | +0.3428s |
| 11 | 49 | Jay Hanson | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | +0.3745s |
| 12 | 43 | Lachlan Dalton | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | +0.3991s |
| 13 | 78 | Jordan Love | Ford Mustang GT | DS2 | +0.4907s |
| 14 | 54 | Jordyn Sinni | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | +0.4926s |
| 15 | 999 | Jobe Stewart | Holden Commodore VF | DS3 | +0.6831s |
| 16 | 99 | Jordan Boys | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | +0.7104s |
| 17 | 92 | Cameron McLeod | Nissan Altima | DS3 | +0.7673s |
| 18 | 18 | Matt Chahda | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | +0.8334s |
| 19 | 22 | Mason Kelly | Nissan Altima | DS3 | +0.8347s |
| 20 | 11 | Zane Morse | Ford Mustang GT | DS2 | +0.8446s |
| 21 | 55 | Rylan Gray | Ford Falcon FG X | DS3 | +1.2731s |
| 22 | 117 | Jett Johnson | Nissan Altima | DS3 | +2.3347s |
| 23 | 33 | Callum Walker | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | +2.4034s |
| 24 | 6 | Elly Morrow | Ford Mustang GT | DS2 | +4.2332s |
V8 Sleuth’s ongoing coverage of the Dunlop Series for Super2 and Super3 is proudly presented by Biante – Fuel your passion with winning model cars. Visit Biante here to check out their range of model cars in a range of scales from 1:64 to 1:10.
