De Pasquale fastest in Ipswich, Bates stuns as Tickford stumbles
Anton De Pasquale fastest in Ipswich, Zach Bates stuns as Tickford stumbles
De Pasquale beats Feeney to provisional pole, wildcard Bates soars to third
Cam Waters 19th, Thomas Randle 23rd as Tickford's headaches continue
Anton De Pasquale has pulled off a provisional pole shock in Boost Mobile Qualifying as wildcard Zach Bates stole headlines at Queensland Raceway.
Team 18's star signing nailed a 1:08.1543s to deny Broc Feeney in Race 25 qualifying, but it was Bates who impressed with third ahead of reigning champion Will Brown.
The session began with a shocker for Tickford Racing, with Cam Waters 19th and Thomas Randle 23rd. Brodie Kostecki, Chaz Mostert and Ryan Wood spared Ford's blushes with fifth, sixth and seventh, with James Golding, Cameron Hill and David Reynolds completing the 10.
Feeney kicked off Q1 with a 1:09.0008s, and after Brown returned serve with a 1:08.0277s, Feeney opened up a 0.15s gap with a 1:08.8703s. Jaxon Evans was a surprise third ahead of Reynolds and Andre Heimgartner.
A star-studded drop zone was filled by Mostert, Kai Allen, Randle, Matt Payne, Waters and Hill. When the field returned, Jack Le Brocq moved to the top with a 1:08.7918s, with Bates jumping from 20th to third. Feeney (1:08.5561s) and Brown (1:08.6195s) reclaimed the front running, before Wood and Macauley Jones split the two Triple Eight drivers.
Cooepr Murray (1:08.4643s), Richie Stanaway (1:08.5425s) and Golding (1:08.5508s) all moved up before Feeney (1:08.3255s) reasserted himself.
Waters tried to get in at the death, but missed out by 0.006s. Heimgartner, Evans, Allen, Randle, Aaron Cameron, Bryce Fullwood and Cameron Crick were also knocked out. Le Brocq, Mostert and Hill snuck in, with Wood the only Ford driver in the top 10.
"We're just not quick enough," Waters said.
"We thought we found some gains yesterday, it's just this tyre we're struggling on."
"[We're struggling] pretty much the exit of pit lane, right until we come in, just not making grip at the moment, so something is out of the window for sure."
Mostert started Q2 with a 1:09.2675s, which was smoked by Feeney's 1:08.6042s. Bates raised eyebrows with a 1:08.5738s, with Feeney, Reynolds, Golding, Kostecki, Jones, Murray, Le Brocq, Hill and Stanaway the provisional 10.
Brown sat 18th without a time after opting for one run, but was armed with warm tyres. Brown went fourth, with Feeney going fastest with a 1:08.2544s. Kostecki moved to second and Jones fourth as Feeney pressed on to nail a 1:08.1890s.
Just as Bates powered to second, De Pasquale came out of nowhere with a 1:08.1543s, with Feeney ending up just 0.0347s behind.
The 10 fastest drivers return to the track on Sunday for the Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout (11:40am AEST), which sets the grid for the 200km Race 25 (3:15pm AEST).
