Randle, Feeney split Tassie poles amid collisions, penalties

Chaos has reigned supreme in Boost Mobile Qualifying at Symmons Plains Raceway, with Thomas Randle and Broc Feeney splitting the Saturday pole positions.

The first session featured a wild off for Erebus Motorsport rookie Cooper Murray, before Brodie Kostecki was penalised over sending Ryan Wood into a spin.

The drama spilled into the Race 12 session, with championship leader Will Brown only 13th, and Kostecki 21st. Taupō winners Matt Payne and Chaz Mostert, meanwhile, failed to progress to Q2 in both sessions.

Randle and Feeney were the benchmarks all morning, trading poles and filling out both front rows for Saturday's two 120km races.

Race 11 will commence at 12:05pm local time, followed by Race 12 at 3:55pm.

Race 11 qualifying

Drivers hit the track in the first Super Soft qualifying session of the weekend, with Richie Stanaway (52.0698s) and James Golding (52.3184s) setting the first representative times.

Feeney began to show his pace, first hitting the top with a 51.2453s. James Courtney jumped to the top with a 51.2110s as Murray bowled a wide exiting Turn 7, with the rookie sliding towards the pit wall. The #99 Snap-on Chevrolet wiped out a styrofoam barrier and slid across the infield across Turn 1. Murray was 15th as red flags flew due to debris, but dropped to 22nd with his fastest time scrapped.

At the time of the stoppage, the top 10 positions were held by Feeney, Brown, Will Davison, Cam Waters, Courtney, Kostecki, Golding, Stanaway, Wood and Mostert. Replays then showed Hill, who was 19th, spinning towards pit entry as the field returned to the lane.

Drivers returned for a final five-minute crack in Q1, with Bryce Fullwood (50.7154s) and Golding (50.7154s) firing to the top. Payne spun at the final corner and ended up 24th and last, behind both Team 18 drivers. Anton De Pasquale, who was 23rd, was delayed by a suspected shift cut issue.

Mostert was only 19th, one position ahead of Murray. Brown and Waters improved to second and seventh, with Courtney first Ford home in fifth. Fullwood and Jaxon Evans were third and fourth, with Kostecki, Wood and Randle sixth, ninth and 10th. Wood was lucky to survive a "slow leak" on his left front tyre. However, a gamble to keep Feeney parked in pit lane paid off, but only just, the Triple Eight driver sneaking into Q2 in eighth.

Feeney kicked off Q2 with a 51.0586s, with Waters just 0.022s down. Brown lowered the benchmark to a 50.7873s, with Waters 0.096s down, before Feeney clocked a 50.7057s. Golding, Kostecki and Wood, meanwhile, opted for one run.

The chaos continued as Kostecki hit Wood at the hairpin, catching out Golding. The incident was placed under investigation, with Kostecki fifth, Wood eighth and Golding 10th.

Kostecki was quickly hit with a four-spot penalty for Race 11. Randle improved to second with a 50.7489s, before returning serve with a 50.6975s to beat Feeney to pole by 0.008s.

"I wasn't really sure where we were gonna end up, because yesterday we were 16th, and I was sort of struggling a bit all over the place," said Randle, who claimed his second pole in Tasmania.

"We just got through Q1A by like a hundredth, so to grab pole, I wasn't really expecting it, but a great way to start where we finished off last year."

Race 12 qualifying

Cars were fitted with Soft tyres and returned to the track for Race 12 qualifying, and Feeney and Randle emerged as the drivers to beat with a 50.9824s and 50.9830s.

Waters was third ahead of Golding, Hill, Courtney, Wood, Brown, Evans and De Pasquale, with David Reynolds also finding the grass at the final corner and ending up 23rd ahead of the final runs in Q1. Kostecki was 16th, and Mostert 19th.

In what was a bumper run to the chequered flag, Golding beat Feeney by 0.094s, with the top 22 drivers covered by 0.4s. All told, Golding, Feeney, Waters, Randle, Jones, Jack Le Brocq, Nick Percat, Fullwood, Evans and Reynolds claimed the Q2 berths, with Payne, Mostert and Brown 11th through 13th. Kostecki, meanwhile, was buried down in 21st.

As driver got up to speed, Randle jumped to first ahead of Feeney by 0.003s, with Golding third, Jones fourth, Fullwood fifth and Percat sixth. Waters, meanwhile, locked up into Turn 6 and immediately came into the lane with seven minutes remaining.

The field returned to the track with three minutes to go, setting up a heart-stopping run to the chequered flag. Feeney jumped Randle with a 50.8929s, and lowered his own benchmark with a 50.8368s. As the chequered flag flew, Randle fired off at Turn 4 and was followed by Le Brocq. Randle rolled forward and got stuck in the gravel, with Le Brocq continuing on.

All told, Feeney beat Randle by 0.1299s, with Golding, Jones, Fullwood, Percat, Reynolds, Waters, Evans and Le Brocq rounding out the 10.

"I'm stoked to get that, I felt like we've been super fast all weekend," said Feeney, who claimed his fifth pole of the season.

"Being the first car out on track it's pretty hard to get a tow, so to have two great qualifying positions just driving around out front is awesome.

"The car has been really good since we rolled it out, but I'm sweating, and as you know it's freezing down here at the moment, so it looks simple, but it's bloody hard work around here."