Van Gisbergen leads Triple Eight Shootout sweep

Shane van Gisbergen claimed his first ARMOR ALL Pole since the season-opener in Adelaide, leading a Triple Eight lockout of the top three in the Gold Coast’s Top 10 Shootout.

Van Gisbergen will start the final leg of the PIRTEK Enduro Cup from pole position with co-driver Matt Campbell, joined on the front row by Jamie Whincup.

Behind the Red Bull Holden Racing Team pair, Triple Eight stablemate Craig Lowndes will start third.

Running last after topping the qualifying session earlier on Sunday, van Gisbergen turned a 1:10.8384s to pip Whincup by just 0.0660 seconds.

“One-two-three, how awesome is that?” said van Gisbergen.

“We’re in a pretty lucky position to have such awesome cars this weekend. Thanks to the team, they’ve been working hard to turn our pace around.”

Lowndes was nearly two tenths adrift, gaining five places from eighth in the provisional order.

“You’ve got to rub those walls,” Lowndes said after completing his lap. “We had nothing to lose, we qualified eighth, might be further up than that.”

James Courtney took fourth with a 1:11.2026s in the Mobil 1 HSV Racing Commodore that was repaired after finding the Turn 12 tyre barrier late in qualifying.

Picking up five sports from his qualifying position, the result is Courtney's best grid slot since Adelaide in March.

The third row will be shared by Saturday’s Vodafone Gold Coast 600 winner Chaz Mostert and Bathurst winner David Reynolds.

Mostert admitted he was “not completely happy” with his lap, while Reynolds locked the rear brakes of his Commodore into Turn 4.

The other two Prodrive Fords of Cameron Waters and Mark Winterbottom brushed the exit wall coming out of the beach chicane, losing time with the moments and having to settle for seventh and eighth.

“I had a bit of an engine miss going into the chicane,” Winterbottom said.

“I couldn’t pull sixth [gear] and that completely messed with my flow.”

Michael Caruso and Lee Holdsworth - running first - were not credited with a time, based on kerb strikes at the back and first chicanes respectively.

The Nissan and Preston Hire Commodore entries will start ninth and 10th, Caruso having had his own big lock-up on the run into Turn 1.

“Really disappointed, but you’ve got to have a go and I did that,” Holdsworth said.

“You just want to get around this lap without triggering the kerbs, but we did that.”

Shell V-Power Racing’s title contenders Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard missed the Shootout altogether and will line up 13th and 22nd when the race starts at 2:25pm.