Pither pinches pole

Kiwi racer Chris Pither has clocked up his first ever Supercars pole position today at Queensland Raceway.

The Super Black racer’s 1min10.0737 lap trumped teammate and former ‘QR’ winner Chaz Mostert by 0.051sec in the 15-minute session, continuing Prodrive’s strong run at the Queensland track.

“When my engineer Dilan (Talabani) told me we were on pole I had to pinch myself driving down pit lane,” Pither said.  

“The car’s been quick the whole time, I didn’t know if we’d manage that this year but an absolutely amazing feeling…

“Hopefully this is a turning point for us this year, hopefully we can chip away at this championship now.”

Pither lines up for his 50th Supercars race start in tomorrow’s 200km race.

The two PRA drivers held off a Triple Eight train, with Jamie Whincup, Craig Lowndes and Shane van Gisbergen completing the top five.

Whincup, who was 0.1137sec off ARMOR ALL Pole Position and aims for his 100th Supercars race win, congratulated Pither on his achievement.

“That’s a big deal,” the Red Bull racer said.  

“PRA was very quick here last year and they’ve trumped us again in qualifying.

“We’re there or thereabouts, put our heads down and hopefully not trip over each other.”

DJR Team Penske’s sole qualifier Fabian Coulthard finished sixth, while the other side of the garage continued to work on Scott Pye’s car after his practice brake failure.

Defending champ Mark Winterbottom was close behind in seventh, with Michael Caruso the first Nissan home in eighth.

Click here for full results.

The Supercars will line up for 120km of racing at 4.15pm local time this afternoon.