BRODIE Kostecki has cruised to provisional pole for the Sandown 500 while Shane van Gisbergen spectacularly missed the cut.
The title-contending teams took opposite approaches to qualifying, with Kostecki and Will Brown heading straight out on track and quickly making it an Erebus Motorsport one-two.
Kostecki immediately banged in the fastest lap of the weekend thus far, a 1m08.4550s. That put him 0.2844s clear of Brown, with Cam Waters third.
Meanwhile, Triple Eight kept its powder dry with both Red Bull Ampol Camaros staying in the lane for the opening third of the 20-minute session. They were the only two cars to do so.
In the middle flurry of runs, Feeney popped up into third but van Gisbergen was just 17th – from his second flying lap after the first was scrubbed due to a track limits violation.
Kostecki was the only driver to stay in the lane during that sequence, after which he remained on top, although now with a reduced 0.1035s margin to Brown.
Entering the final five minutes, the provisional top 10 ran: Kostecki, Brown, Feeney, Thomas Randle, Todd Hazelwood, Will Davison, Waters, Jack Le Brocq, David Reynolds and Matt Payne.
That left the likes of Andre Heimgartner (15th), Chaz Mostert (16th), van Gisbergen (19th) and Anton De Pasquale (20th) with work to do.
Bizarrely, only one driver improved in the final runs – and that was Bryce Fullwood who stayed 25th.
The big story was van Gisbergen, who was on a personal best lap before copping a kerb hop and then running off at Turn 9.
Van Gisbergen is second in the championship, but he and Richie Stanaway will start from way down in 19th.
The other major moment towards the end was James Golding, who speared off through the grass at Turn 1.
Positions 11 to 27 on the grid are now locked in, with those drivers’ next session being the pre-race warm-up tomorrow at 10:10am.
The front five rows will be decided via this afternoon’s Top 10 Shootout, which will start at 5:20pm.
RESULTS: Qualifying, 2023 Sandown 500
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 99 | Brodie Kostecki | Erebus | Chevrolet | 1m08.4550s |
| 2 | 9 | Will Brown | Erebus | Chevrolet | +0.1035s |
| 3 | 88 | Broc Feeney | Triple Eight | Chevrolet | +0.1283s |
| 4 | 55 | Thomas Randle | Tickford | Ford | +0.2514s |
| 5 | 3 | Todd Hazelwood | BRT | Ford | +0.2627s |
| 6 | 26 | David Reynolds | Grove | Ford | +0.2795s |
| 7 | 17 | Will Davison | DJR | Ford | +0.2977s |
| 8 | 6 | Cam Waters | Tickford | Ford | +0.3010s |
| 9 | 34 | Jack Le Brocq | MSR | Chevrolet | +0.3038s |
| 10 | 19 | Matthew Payne | Grove | Ford | +0.3415s |
| 11 | 23 | Tim Slade | PremiAir | Chevrolet | +0.4047s |
| 12 | 35 | Cameron Hill | MSR | Chevrolet | +0.4073s |
| 13 | 18 | Mark Winterbottom | Team 18 | Chevrolet | +0.4564s |
| 14 | 5 | James Courtney | Tickford | Ford | +0.4738s |
| 15 | 8 | Andre Heimgartner | BJR | Chevrolet | +0.4774s |
| 16 | 25 | Chaz Mostert | WAU | Ford | +0.4837s |
| 17 | 56 | Declan Fraser | Tickford | Ford | +0.5179s |
| 18 | 31 | James Golding | PremiAir | Chevrolet | +0.5256s |
| 19 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Triple Eight | Chevrolet | +0.5298s |
| 20 | 11 | Anton De Pasquale | DJR | Ford | +0.5518s |
| 21 | 20 | Scott Pye | Team 18 | Chevrolet | +0.5753s |
| 22 | 4 | Jack Smith | BJR | Chevrolet | +0.5758s |
| 23 | 888 | Zane Goddard | Triple Eight | Chevrolet | +0.6181s |
| 24 | 96 | Macauley Jones | BJR | Chevrolet | +0.6271s |
| 25 | 14 | Bryce Fullwood | BJR | Chevrolet | +0.6465s |
| 26 | 2 | Nick Percat | WAU | Ford | +0.7141s |
| 27 | 7 | Aaron Love | BRT | Ford | +0.9801s |
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