Strength in numbers boosts Toyota's Finals hopes
Andre Heimgartner fourth in Friday qualifying at Gold Coast
Three Toyotas in top six for the first time in qualifying
A sterling qualifying result by Andre Heimgartner has seen Brad Jones Racing emerge as a critical player in Toyota's 2026 Repco Supercars Finals Series hopes.
While Anton De Pasquale stole the headlines with provisional pole at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500, it was an outstanding Friday for Toyota.
For the first time, three Toyotas featured in the top six in a Supercars qualifying session, with Heimgartner fourth, Chaz Mostert fifth and Ryan Wood sixth.
Mostert and Wood are looking to move out of the drop zone and qualify for the Semi Final, and critically, qualified ahead of Finals rivals Will Brown (seventh), Kai Allen (ninth), Cam Waters (10th), Brodie Kostecki (11th) and Jack Le Brocq (17th).
While Walkinshaw TWG Racing teammates Mostert and Wood must carve their own path through to Sandown, the Toyota of Heimgartner could yet play a key role in taking points away from other drivers.
Having claimed his best qualifying result since he scored a surprise pole at Symmons Plains in May, Heimgartner and Brad Jones Racing inadvertently have a role to play in helping Toyota progress to Sandown.
While manufacturers can’t influence results, WTWGR will be hoping fellow Supra squad BJR can keep Heimgartner in the game, and help Mostert and Wood escape elimination.
Why Friday’s result matters, is that BJR was able to match WTWGR from the outset, potentially increasing the number of Supras at the front of the grid ahead of Saturday’s Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout.
Weather could yet impact the Shootout and change the order again, something WTWGR Director Ryan Walkinshaw made clear when approached by Supercars.com.
Regardless, Walkinshaw was hopeful Heimgartner could still play a role in the race.
“We don’t really know what's gonna happen in the Top Ten Shootout, so it's kind of irrelevant at the moment,” Walkinshaw said.
"We'll see where we end up qualifying after that.
“But it's good, because there are drivers that could potentially be in the 10 that we're fighting against in Finals, that aren’t in the 10.
“As long as he stays up there, that means that hopefully someone else we're fighting against stays out of it."
Saturday's Supercars action at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 commences with the Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout at 12:35pm local time/1:35pm AEDT, followed by Race 31 at 3:15pm local time/4:15pm AEDT.
