Kostecki pips Mostert to provisional pole

A Camaro vs Mustang Shootout battle looms on Saturday, with Brodie Kostecki edging Chaz Mostert to claim provisional pole at the Thrifty Newcastle 500.

The three quickest drivers from Friday were again the pace-setters in ARMOR ALL Qualifying, with Shane van Gisbergen third.

As it was on Friday, Kostecki planted his #99 Coca-Cola Camaro on top of the timesheets, but Mostert helped Ford to second by the highest of margins.

After 20 frantic minutes, the margin between Kostecki and #25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang driver Mostert was 0.0371s.

Van Gisbergen ran off-sequence to the rest of the field, but still managed to qualify third, just 0.1141s down on Kostecki.

Kostecki’s 1:11.3217s proved marginally better than his Friday benchmark of 1:11.4068s.

There were a number of notable misses, with both Shell V-Power Racing Mustangs failing to reach the Shootout.

Anton De Pasquale was only good enough for 17th, with teammate Will Davison 14th despite nursing a clutch issue.

Will Brown missed a Shootout berth by a scant 0.0006s, with James Courtney and Thomas Randle making it a Tickford Racing 12-13.

“It’s pretty wild out there all weekend, the track’s still rubbering up,” Kostecki said.

“It’s great to have the speed today, but to carry it into today is unreal.

“I want to say a big thank you to everyone in the Coca-Cola team… it was a massive effort in the off-season."

Tim Slade was an impressive fourth in his #400 Nulon Racing Camaro, with David Reynolds and Cam Waters making it a Mustang five-six.

All told, there were three Chevrolets and three Fords in the top six, with Broc Feeney, Andre Heimgartner, Scott Pye and James Golding rounding out the top 10 with a quartet of Camaros.

Kostecki was quick from the get-go with a 1:11.3217s on his first flyer, with Heimgartner then next-best with a 1:11.7057s.

Reynolds split the two Camaros with a 1:11.5730s, with van Gisbergen — who ventured out after five minutes — then jumping to third.

Slade then Mostert jumped to second as Davison fought through his clutch dramas, notably running wide at the Turn 11 hairpin.

Waters was as low as 14th before he gained eight positions in his #6 Monster Mustang to seal a Shootout berth.

As the session wound down, Feeney pounded his his #88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro to clinch a spot in the Shootout.

Waters’ time bumped Brown out of the top 10, with Golding on the cusp as Mark Winterbottom clocked the best first sector of the session.

However, Winterbottom fell away towards the end of his lap, and the #18 DEWALT Camaro was only good enough for 16th.

Jack Le Brocq (#34 Truck Assist Camaro), Winterbottom, De Pasquale, Bryce Fullwood (#14 Middy’s Camaro), Cameron Hill (#35 Truck Assist Camaro), and Todd Hazelwood (#3 CoolDrive Mustang) rounded out the top 10.

Nick Percat was 21st, 19 positions behind WAU teammate Mostert.

The first Top Ten Shootout of the Gen3 era will commence at 12:35pm local time.

The 95-lap Race 1 is scheduled to commence at 3:20pm.