Brown fails again, De Pasquale fastest as rain hits Sandown
Will Brown fails again, Anton De Pasquale fastest as rain hits Sandown
Reigning champ Brown the only Finals Driver to miss Sunday Shootout berth
Ryan Wood second, Kai Allen third, Matt Payne fourth, Thomas Randle fifth
A failed gamble has seen Will Brown suffer yet another Boost Mobile Qualifying shocker, as Anton De Pasquale claimed provisional Race 31 pole at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500.
Team 18 driver De Pasquale was quickest in an enthralling two-part session, which was punctuated by passing showers. However, the biggest story was the plight of Brown, who followed up his Saturday qualifying woes to end up 17th on Sunday morning.
Brown made a call to come into the lane as a yellow flag flew, but remained in the lane as times improved. Having fought back into the top two from 15th, the Queenslander will have to do it again on Sunday to keep his title defence alive.
Rain began to fall 10 minutes before the session began, throwing teams' plans up into the air.
David Reynolds flew straight off the road at Turn 1 as cars rolled out, with drivers fighting to bank a lap. Through the first laps, De Pasquale led the way with a 1:12.0845s, and improved to a 1:10.0313s on his second lap. James Courtney, Cameron Hill and Jack Le Brocq then moved into the 1:09s.
The times continued to tumble; Hill led the way with a 1:08.8479s before Ryan Wood moved marginally ahead with a 1:08.8301s. Macauley Jones, who slid off at Turn 4, moved to the top with a 1:08.7693s as drivers bolted on new tyres. With four minutes remaining, Chaz Mostert, Broc Feeney, Brown and Cam Waters were 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th.
Into the final three minutes, the rain returned, locking the field in. Cooper Murray, Jaxon Evans, David Reynolds, Aaron Cameron, Will Davison and Andre Heimgartner were eliminated.
Teams faced a nervous wait before Q2, with dark clouds threatening the 10-minute sessions. Brown and Mostert came straight back into pit lane as Feeney pressed on, recording a 1:10.4726s.
The times quickly tumbled, Fullwood, Hill and Waters first into the 1:09s. Hill then spun into the infield at Turn 9, where Waters escaped a wild slide.
With four minutes remaining, De Pasquale led Kai Allen, Feeney, Matt Payne, Waters, Fullwood, Mostert, Jones, Jayden Ojeda and Courtney, with Brown 11th and Randle 17th. Wood jumped to second with a 1:08.7765s behind De Pasquale, as Randle and Brown fought to jump into the top 10.
A slide at Turn 10 put Randle under pressure, while teammate Waters picked up a kerb strike. Randle returned but again failed to jump into the top 10, as Wood, Allen and Mostert watched on from pit lane.
Randle went purple in the first sector as Hill fired into the 10 after his spin. With the pressure on, Randle responded with a brilliant lap to fire into fourth.
The Shootout will be contested by De Pasquale, Wood, Allen, Payne, Randle, Hill, Feeney, Mostert, Waters and Fullwood. Brodie Kostecki missed out in 11th.
Sunday's action resumes with the Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout at 12:10pm. Race 31, at 3:20pm, will decide the Grand Final field. Fox Sports and Kayo Sports take live coverage in Australia, and Sky NZ in New Zealand. International fans can watch on SuperView.
