ZAK Best claimed pole position for the opening Dunlop Series race at the Bathurst 1000 in a qualifying session that delivered record-breaking speed.
The Super2 Series points leader undercut Jack Le Brocq’s 2017 qualifying lap record by just over 0.2 seconds, and watched the last few minutes from pitlane as his rivals tried and failed to usurp him.
Kai Allen came closest, 0.18s shy, while Thursday fast man Aaron Love locked down third place a further 0.02s adrift.
SIDELINED: Crash, concussion put Super3 rookie out of Bathurst
Sandown round winner Ryan Wood looked on course to pip Best to pole, setting the fastest time across the opening two sectors, but lost time running wide on the exit of Forrest’s Elbow and ended up fourth, 0.22s off the top spot.
Brad Vaughan netted fifth from Jay Hanson, with Cooper Murray, Zach Bates, Jack Perkins and Zane Morse rounding out the top 10.
The 15-minute session ran uninterrupted throughout, although not entirely without incident.
Matt Chahda tagged the wall at the Esses in the closing stages of the session, continuing a difficult weekend after struggling through Thursday afternoon’s practice session with a broken roll bar.
He returned to the track for a final flying lap that was good enough for 18th on the combined grid.
Super3: McLeod domination continues
McLeod took his eighth pole position of the 2023 season, pipping Super3 points leader Jobe Stewart to the fastest time in their 15-minute session.
The Nissan Altima pilot’s 2m06.4958s lap was good enough for 12th overall on the grid and doubled as a new qualifying lap record, undercutting Kai Allen’s third-tier mark from last year by almost a second.
Stewart fell just 0.35 seconds shy, threatening to improve on his final lap until he ran through the tarmac runoff area at Skyline.
Mason Kelly and Valentino Astuti were a further second adrift in third and fourth, while Jett Johnson bounced back from his scare in practice to claim fifth.
Only five Super3 cars will take part in the rest of the weekend with Ryan Gilroy sidelined after his crash during Thursday’s second practice session.
RESULTS: Qualifying for Race 1, Bathurst Dunlop Series
| Pos | No. | Drivers | Car | Class | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 | Zak Best | Ford Mustang GT | DS2 | 2m05.2863s |
| 2 | 26 | Kai Allen | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | +0.1822s |
| 3 | 78 | Aaron Love | Ford Mustang GT | DS2 | +0.2000s |
| 4 | 2 | Ryan Wood | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | +0.2292s |
| 5 | 5 | Brad Vaughan | Ford Mustang GT | DS2 | +0.2373s |
| 6 | 49 | Jay Hanson | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | +0.2493s |
| 7 | 88 | Cooper Murray | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | +0.3521s |
| 8 | 25 | Zach Bates | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | +0.7001s |
| 9 | 70 | Jack Perkins | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | +0.8177s |
| 10 | 11 | Zane Morse | Ford Mustang GT | DS2 | +0.8655s |
| 11 | 27 | Aaron Cameron | Ford Mustang GT | DS2 | +0.9879s |
| 12 | 92 | Cameron McLeod | Nissan Altima | DS3 | +1.2095s |
| 13 | 38 | Cameron Crick | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | +1.5134s |
| 14 | 999 | Jobe Stewart | Holden Commodore VF | DS3 | +1.5643s |
| 15 | 54 | Jordyn Sinni | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | +1.6177s |
| 16 | 43 | Lachlan Dalton | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | +1.6713s |
| 17 | 67 | Nash Morris | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | +1.7933s |
| 18 | 18 | Matt Chahda | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | +1.902s |
| 19 | 30 | Aaron Seton | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | +1.9518s |
| 20 | 22 | Mason Kelly | Nissan Altima | DS3 | +2.5929s |
| 21 | 3 | Valentino Astuti | Nissan Altima | DS3 | +2.792s |
| 22 | 117 | Jett Johnson | Nissan Altima | DS3 | +3.7226s |
| 23 | 6 | Elly Morrow | Ford Mustang GT | DS2 | +3.8851s |
| 24 | 33 | Callum Walker | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | +4.4768s |
| 25 | 219 | James Masterton | Ford Mustang GT | DS2 | +8.6648s |
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.
