Whincup breaks Brock's pole record

Jamie Whincup has once again etched his name in history, breaking Peter Brock's record for the most career pole positions in the first of back-to-back qualifying sessions at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Whincup has asserted his authority on this year's V8 Supercars Championship, and will start from the front row for both of this afternoon's races, with Scott McLaughlin's Volvo alongside.

"It's an amazing feeling - I remember early in my career I wasn't sure I could get a pole position, it took me two years to get one," Whincup said of breaking the record, which was set by Brock at Oran Park in 1997.

"I thought maybe pole wasn't my thing, but I've learnt the art and there's nothing better than new tyres, new brakes...

"I'm certainly not going to compare the past to the present, that's unfair, but happy for the pole positions I've gotten for myself and the team."

Team boss Roland Dane said his Red Bull charge is as focused as he's ever been, with his eyes on a record breaking sixth Championship, which would cement him as the greatest of all-time, surpassing Mark Skaife, Dick Johnson and Ian Geoghegan.

"You get him in a zone and it's pretty difficult to pull him down," Dane said.

Alongside him in both races is McLaughlin and the Volvo, a battle that has played out across a number of races already this season.

"I've got to knock old Whincup off his perch for pole positions, at the end of the year, we have six and counting!" the young gun said. "Can't wait to race."

The results were a mixed bag across both sessions, with Rick Kelly and his Jack Daniel's Nissan third in the first session, and Craig Lowndes fourth.

Michael Caruso, Shane van Gisbergen, Lee Holdsworth, Nick Percat, Fabian Coulthard and James Courtney completed the top 10, with Mark Winterbottom down in 17.

Click here for full results.

Meanwhile, in the second run, Winterbottom was again buried in 17th - but so was Lowndes.

Lowndes hopped out of his Commodore with minutes to go, but swiftly fell from second all the way to 22nd. He admitted he made an error on his fast lap, and will have plenty of work to do.

Coulthard was third at the end of the second session, with van Gisbergen, Caruso, Jason Bright, Courtney, Lee Holdsworth, David Reynolds and Garth Tander completing the top 10.

Click here for full results.

It's a battle against the clock for teams now, with Race 26 beginning at 2.25pm at Sydney Motorsport Park.