Wood fastest, title contenders reach Shootout in crucial Adelaide qualifying

All four championship contenders have cleared the first Sunday hurdle at the bp Adelaide Grand Final, as Ryan Wood paced Boost Mobile Qualifying.

Broc Feeney (second), Chaz Mostert (seventh), Will Brown (eighth) and Kai Allen (10th) all made it through to the one-lap dash, which will set the grid for Sunday's blockbuster championship decider.

The two-part session ran largely without incident, save for a Q1 scare for Erebus Motorsport rookie Cooper Murray, who lost a wheel through the fast Turn 8 sweeper.

Matt Payne, Anton De Pasquale, Andre Heimgartner, Macauley Jones, Mostert, Brown, Jayden Ojeda and Allen all reached the Shootout, with Cameron Hill missing out by 0.0107s.

Morning rain saw drivers roll out on wet tyres on a damp, greasy track. Heimgartner logged a 1:30.9915s in treacherous conditions, before Bryce Fullwood (1:30.2670s) and Aaron Cameron (1:30.3344s) moved ahead as the sun poked through the clouds through the opening five minutes.

Drivers tested themselves against the conditions with dry tyres, with Murray (1:27.7359s) finding time. Wood (1:28.3106s) and Mostert (1:28.4513s) also moved towards the top.

Murray, though, pulled up into Turn 9, triggering a red flag. Feeney (1:26.5380s) and Hill (1:26.4686s) snuck to the top before the stoppage, with Brown 10th and Allen 14th. As Murray lost his lap time, he fell into the drop zone with Heimgartner, David Reynolds, Thomas Randle, Jones, Austin Cindric and Jaxon Evans.

Cars returned to a track bathed in sunshine, and sitting fifth, Payne picked up a kerb strike. Feeney caught a slide through Turn 11 and moved to the top, but the times rapidly tumbled. Feeney tumbled to 19th, but powered back to the top with a 1:20.3697s ahead of Brown, before Allen (1:20.1318s) and Payne (1:20.3397s) ended Q1 on top.

Evans, Cindric, Waters, Reynolds, Cameron and Murray were eliminated, with Waters furious after a second qualifying failure in as many days.

The remaining 18 drivers returned for a swing at a Shootout berth, and several recorded kerb strikes immediately. Payne put the first number on the board, a 1:19.8057s, with Mostert, Feeney and Brown within 0.08s of the Penrite Mustang.

Ojeda moved the number to a 1:19.7034s with six minutes remaining. Key runners Wood and Kostecki, meanwhile, hadn't set a representative time as cars returned to pit lane. As they returned, Brown and Payne fought over track position through Turns 4 and 5.

Brown, Fullwood and Jones recorded kerb strikes, as Hill jumped ahead with a 1:19.6704s. Mostert improved to a 1:19.4820s, as Feeney remained fifth with a 1:19.7459s.

Brown jumped up to the top, but clocked another kerb strike. Mostert threw a time away with a poor final sector as Wood, Payne, Feeney and Heimgartner jumped up. Brown came into the lane as Feeney marched on to second, before Wood improved again to a 1:19.1468s.

Supercars action resumes on Sunday with the Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout at 12:35pm/1:05pm. The 78-lap Race 34 follows at 3:15pm/3:45pm.