hero-img

McLaughlin fastest, Whincup and Mostert miss Shootout

07 Jul 2019
Mid-pack starts for Saturday podium finishers
Advertisement

Scott McLaughlin was fastest in Sunday ARMOR ALL Qualifying, as his fellow Townsville Saturday podium finishers Jamie Whincup and Chaz Mostert missed the Shootout.

Shell V-Power Racing driver McLaughlin turned a 1:12.1193s to lead the way in the 20-minute session.

  • Click here for full Qualifying results

David Reynolds and Todd Hazelwood were next best, while Whincup and Mostert – who finished second and third behind McLaughlin on Saturday – were only 12th and 16th.

It means they will not contest the ARMOR ALL Top 10 Shootout at the Watpac Townsville 400.

Lee Holdsworth was quickest after the first runs with a 1:12.4363s lap, just ahead of Whincup and Mostert.

McLaughlin moved to the top nearing the halfway mark, going three tenths clear on a 1:12.1193s.

While he did not improve on his final run, it was not beaten and McLaughlin finished 0.1418 seconds ahead of Reynolds.

McLaughlin is chasing a seventh-straight Supercars win on Sunday, while Ford can also wrap up the 2019 manufacturers' title with a victory.

Hazelwood grabbed third for Matt Stone Racing, ahead of Shane van Gisbergen, who logged his time relatively early and sat out the closing stages.

Advertisement

"That’s awesome. [I] absolutely nailed that lap, threw the car on the line and the iSeek Commodore was on rails," Hazelwood said.

"I can’t thank the whole team at Matt Stone Racing enough for giving me the car to do it. I’m pumped."

Cameron Waters, Anton De Pasquale, James Courtney, Fabian Coulthard, Holdsworth and Tim Slade rounded out the top 10 and the Shootout runners.

Andre Heimgartner narrowly missed out in 11th, while Whincup in 12th was 0.3887s off the pace set by McLaughlin and 16th-placed Mostert nearly a further tenth adrift.

"We took a massive swing with the set-up, which we have been all weekend, and the car wasn’t as good then," Whincup said.

"I’d rather learn than anything. Disappointed to miss the Shootout, but it all makes sense because we’re changing massively."

Of his session, Mostert said: "At the end of the day we’re trying to catch one car out there, one car is doing a fantastic job and has been the benchmark all year.

"We’re trying to do some things with the car to try and bridge that gap.

"Yesterday we had a good car but didn’t have a good race car, and today I just couldn’t feel the car under me."

The ARMOR ALL Top 10 Shootout starts at 12:20pm and Sunday's 70-lap race at 3:10pm.

Related News

Advertisement