Perkins Backs up Win With Pole

Today’s Dunlop Series qualifying was divided into two halves to accommodate the large field participating in the Winton 360 this weekend. Fresh off his win at the last round, Jack Perkins clinched ARMOR ALL Pole Position after running in the second half.

Seventeen cars contested the 20-minute first half, for the lower 50 percent of the field, and Taz Douglas led the way, still holding the fastest time when the chequered flag dropped.

Andre Heimgartner, Daniel Gaunt, Rodney Jane and Casey Stoner finished the half as the top five.

But once the second part of the session commenced, many were pushed down the order.

Championship leader Dale Wood jumped into second with just his second lap, but was ultimately derailed, first by Steve Owen and finally by Perkins.

Perkins was the first driver in the ‘23s’, a 1min23.7669 clinching his front row start.

Ant Pedersen – who hadn’t driven a V8 Supercar since 2010, before joining Eggleston Motorsport for the weekend – brought out a red flag with just over 10 minutes to go. A number of drivers spent time off track, with Morgan Haber having a huge slide through the mud with less than a minute to go.

Combined results mean Perkins scored pole ahead of Wood, Owen, Douglas, Andrew Jones (quickest yesterday), Cameron Waters, Haber, Nick McBride, Chris Pither and Ashley Walsh making up the top 10. Seven of those drivers will compete in the PIRTEK Enduro Cup as co-drivers, so the seat time is valuable prior to the Wilson Security Sandown 500, the first of the three long distance races.

Stoner was pushed down to 20th as the second half of qualifying unfolded.

The first Dunlop Series race of the weekend begins at 2.45pm AEST. Tomorrow’s race two grid runs a reverse top 10, and the third is set by combined points.

Click here to see full qualifying results.