Just 0.02s in it: Brown scores provisional Bathurst pole

Will Brown has pipped Anton De Pasquale and Chaz Mostert to provisional pole in a thrilling Repco Bathurst 1000 qualifying session.

Brown, De Pasquale and Mostert were the only drivers to clock laps in the 2:03s bracket.

After 40 enthralling minutes, the top three drivers were covered by just 0.078s.

Erebus Motorsport rookie Brown's 2:03.898s was the first 2:03s lap of the weekend, and it held firm to defy his highly-fancied rivals.

It was a tale of woe for some; notably, Jamie Whincup missed out on a shootout berth by 0.022s.

Tim Slade and Cameron Waters rounded out the top 10, with Brodie Kostecki helping Erebus to a shootout double.

Champion-elect Shane van Gisbergen was seventh ahead of Will Davison and Nick Percat, with Jack Le Brocq denying Whincup a shootout spot.

"I said to Tommy [Moore, race engineer] I grew some big balls out there and had a dip," Brown beamed.

"It's bloody awesome, how good was that.

"To do a 2:03 around here... that's a pretty wicked time, I'm just pumped.

"I'm happy that I'm bloody P1 after that. Obviously it's tight up there, but I'm happy I'm on the right side of the seven-hundredths."

Kostecki headed an impressive Erebus one-two after the first runs, with Brown just 0.074s behind his teammate.

Kostecki led the way on a 2:04.885s, with Brown the only other driver in the 2:04s bracket.

Slade was third, albeit 0.530s down on Kostecki. Mostert, who topped Practice 4, was 0.01s behind the #3 CoolDrive Mustang.

Whincup and van Gisbergen were eighth and ninth respectively after the first runs, with Waters 10th, De Pasquale 20th and Davison 21st.

Van Gisbergen vaulted to the top as the second runs progressed, with the 2021 champion-elect clocking a 2:04.295s.

Mostert, Waters, Brown and Slade all lowered their times into the 2:04s bracket, before Kostecki loomed to fire the greatest shot yet.

However, a sloppy final sector saw Kostecki split van Gisbergen and Mostert on a 2:04.486s.

Van Gisbergen, Kostecki, Mostert, Waters and Brown were covered by 0.382s.

The third runs commenced at the midway point of the session, and De Pasquale made the biggest initial gain, albeit positionally.

De Pasquale jumped from 15th to fourth on a 2:04.622, but still had 0.326s to find on van Gisbergen.

Shell V-Power Racing Team teammate Davison jumped from 10th to fourth.

Waters again flexed his muscle in the first sector, and loomed to break into the 2:03s.

An error at Murray’s Corner wouldn’t prevent the 2020 pole man from going top, but the margin back to van Gisbergen was just 0.091s.

Mostert fired in a session-best second sector, having been within reach of Waters through the first sector.

A strong final corner helped the 2014 race winner to a 2:04.050s and a margin of 0.153s on former teammate Waters.

De Pasquale, who had been dropped to seventh, jumped back to fourth, but was 0.279s from Mostert.

The final runs commenced, and Brown was the first driver to set the time sheets alight.

The 23-year-old, who hit the winners’ circle in Sydney, ran rampant across the top of the mountain and returned the first 2:03s of the weekend.

Mostert and De Pasquale both cracked into the 2:03s, but Brown’s time held firm, albeit by 0.029s.

Whincup was on the bubble as the chequered flag flew. When Slade jumped from outside the top 10 into fourth, Whincup’s fate was sealed.

"Plenty of excuses," said Whincup, who missed the shootout for the first time since 2017.

"We didn't get green runs in practice before, they're a good opportunity to get up to speed, look at the data and work away from there.

"The car was probably good enough... disappointed with that, but what can you do? Put your head down and try to make it up in the race."

Brown will be the last man out in Saturday's ARMOR ALL Top Ten Shootout, having only claimed his first career pole last month.

Supercars will return to the track on Saturday for Practice 5 at 10:15am AEDT. Click here to view the track schedule.

Every session of the event will be broadcast live on Foxtel (Fox Sports 503) and streamed on Kayo.

The Seven Network will provide live free to air coverage of the event. Tickets for the event are on sale now.