Dalton claims maiden pole in Townsville

Lochie Dalton has claimed his first career Dunlop Super2 Series pole in Boost Mobile Qualifying for Race 5 at the NTI Townsville 500.

Continuing Tickford Autosport's incredible form from Tasmania, Dalton became the latest driver to produce a breakout performance, heading home teammate and series leader Rylan Gray by just 0.0621s.

Dalton sent down the first serious lap of the session at a 1:14.8024s with just his second lap, which was more than six tenths faster than the field to that point.

Tickford teammates Reuben Goodall and Rylan Gray also joined him in the 1:14's on their fourth and third laps respectively, whilst WAU's Campbell Logan continued his strong Townsville form in fourth after the opening runs.

Friday pacesetters Brad Vaughan and Jobe Stewart were buried down in 13th and 15th respectively after the opening run as the field rolled back out with eight minutes remaining.

Dalton, Gray, and Triple Eight's Jackson Walls were all jockeying for position on the out lap as they warmed up their tyres, but once they got up to speed the Tickford duo were the class of the field.

Gray jumped up to provisional first on a 1:14.6470s, but was quickly displaced by Dalton on a 1:14.5849s, whilst Jarrod Hughes and Bailey Sweeny also leapt up the order before the red flags were waved with three and a half minutes remaining.

Ryan Tomsett drew the red flags when he fired up the Turn 11 escape road with a stuck throttle on the #17 Anderson Motorsport Mustang, fortunately avoiding any contact with the wall.

The session resumed four minutes later, but with only three and a half minutes remaining and several laps required to generate speed on the Hard tyre, Dalton was safe in pole.

When Gray peeled into the pits before completing his first lap, that all but assured the Tasmanian's first career Super2 pole, but that doesn't mean others weren't pushing.

Cameron McLeod had a hair-raising moment at Turn 6 when he launched off the inside kerb into the grass on his way to 12th, whilst Jackson Walls ran down the Turn 3 escape road on his way to eighth.

Behind Dalton and Gray, Reuben Goodall continued his strong run of form in third, with Logan's fourth a standout performance in what has been a tough opening to his and WAU's 2025 campaign.

The 10 was rounded out by Jobe Stewart, Nash Morris, Ben Gomersall, Walls, Vaughan, and Hughes.

Race 5 of the 2025 Dunlop Super2 Series begins at 1:35pm AEST.