Brown beats Waters to pole as Wood escapes scary off
Will Brown beats Cam Waters to pole in dramatic Shootout
Ryan Wood escapes scary off through the esses
Brown claims back-to-back Sandown 500 pole positions
Championship leader Will Brown has beaten Cam Waters in action-packed Boost Mobile Shootout to secure back-to-back Sandown 500 pole positions.
Brown, who topped the Shootout at last year's event, beat Waters to pole by 0.0647s in a thrilling Shootout at Sandown headlined by a wild moment for Ryan Wood.
Anton De Pasquale was a surprise third after going out first in the one-lap dash, with Brodie Kostecki fourth ahead of provisional pole-sitter Broc Feeney.
De Pasquale bowled a wide at the final corner before he even started his lap, but recovered to set a time that proved too far out of reach for the next three drivers.
Andre Heimgartner, Richie Stanaway and Kostecki were all unable to unseat the Shell Ford, before Brown set a 1:10.2549s to put his rivals on notice.
Waters slotted in just behind with a 1:10.3196s, leaving Wood, Matt Payne, Chaz Mostert and Feeney standing between Brown and a first pole since Bathurst in February.
Wood went fastest in the first sector, but lost control through the esses and surfed through the Turn 9 sand trap. Wood managed to keep his Mustang out of the Armco barriers, but left sand on the road on rejoin.
Matt Payne was 1.4139s off the pace with his 1:11.6688s, with Mostert only fifth with a 1:10.7807s before Feeney attempted to deny his teammate consecutive Sandown poles.
It wasn't to be for Feeney, with Brown claiming just his second pole of the season, and first since the very first race in Bathurst.
"I knew it would just be who didn't stuff up out there, so I was just trying not to screw it up," said Brown, who scored his first pole position since Bathurst in February.
"I just put a clean lap together and I'm stoked to get the Boost Mobile Pole Award, I'm just ecstatic, it's been a tough round for us the last couple, we got podiums, but I really wanted to get another pole this year and try and win this weekend.
"It was tough, between one and two there was a lot of water on the road, and even this last sector down here, there was a lot of water to try and finish your lap.
"Every time I went in there I was just thinking 'Don't stuff it up here, don't stuff it up' and maximise where it wasn't wet."
The 161-lap race will commence at 2:05pm AEST on Sunday. The race will be broadcast live on Foxtel (Fox Sports 506) and streamed on Kayo. The Seven Network will provide highlights coverage of the race.
