Rookie Brown beats Whincup to maiden pole by 0.03s

Will Brown has claimed Erebus Motorsport’s first pole position in two years at Sydney Motorsport Park.

The first-year full-time driver pipped Jamie Whincup to Race 23 pole honours for the ARMOR ALL Sydney SuperNight.

It was Brown’s first career pole, and the first pole for a full-time rookie since Chris Pither at Ipswich in 2016.

It was also Erebus’s first pole since Townsville 2019.

Toowoomba-born Brown set an early flyer in Q3, and held on over Whincup by just 0.028s.

The top four of Brown, Whincup, Shane van Gisbergen and Will Davison were covered by just 0.091s.

The session’s biggest loser was Anton De Pasquale, who will launch from 26th and last for the race.

De Pasquale was immediately brought into the garage in Q1 with a suspected transaxle issue.

Brown set a 1:30.818s on the Hard tyre, but the balance of field returned for a final run on Softs.

Davison emerged with the quickest time, a 1:29.441s with Brown demoted to 18th.

Bryce Fullwood, Whincup, Cameron Waters and van Gisbergen rounded out the top five.

Brown’s Erebus teammate Brodie Kostecki also ran Q1 on the Hard tyre, and scraped into the second segment of qualifying by 0.02s over Luke Youlden.

Team 18 duo Scott Pye and Mark Winterbottom also rolled the dice on Hard tyres but ended up 22nd and 23rd, with Andre Heimgartner and Fabian Coulthard also missing out.

Thomas Randle was hit with a three-place grid penalty after he was adjudged to have impeded fellow wildcard Kurt Kostecki. The Tickford Racing driver will start an adjusted 20th.

Randle weaved in front of Kostecki, who took evasive action over the crest into Turn 4 and hit the polystyrene brake marker board.

Brown clocked a 1:29.151s early in Q2, with Kostecki usurping his teammate late on with a 1:29.079s.

Van Gisbergen and Whincup slotted into third and fourth ahead of Davison, with Nick Percat jumping to seventh at the death ahead of Waters.

Todd Hazelwood and Jack Le Brocq also sealed safe passage; Chaz Mostert was 14th, one position behind Walkinshaw Andretti United teammate Fullwood.

Brown was again first to set a flyer, with the 23-year-old dropping in a 1:29.039s early in Q3.

Like he did in last Saturday’s shootout, Brown watched on in the garage as his rivals tried to knock off his time.

Kostecki fell short by 0.127s, but was demoted to fifth by Whincup, van Gisbergen and Davison.

"It's bloody awesome, the guys have done a fantastic job," Brown said.

"I'm just pumped... it's awesome for the team.

"The boys have a bit of beer money. They'll be happy, we'll see how we go."

Percat will start Race 23 sixth, with Tim Slade, Le Brocq, Hazelwood and Waters - who picked up a kerb strike on his flying lap - rounding out the top 10.

The 32-lap Race 23 will commence at 7:45pm AEDT.

Every session of the ARMOR ALL Sydney SuperNight will be broadcast live on Foxtel (Fox Sports 506) and streamed on Kayo.

The Seven Network will showcase highlights of the event.

Tickets for the remaining Sydney events are on sale now.