Sick Kostecki stars amid Feeney shock, Allen/Wood clash

A shock Q1 elimination for Broc Feeney, Kai Allen/Ryan Wood clash and defiant Brodie Kostecki pole lit up a wild Boost Mobile Qualifying of surprises at the betr Darwin Triple Crown.

Battling a self-described "severe man flu," Kostecki echoed his brave efforts of Melbourne to secure his fourth Boost Mobile Pole of the season.

Kostecki will start alongside Team 18 driver Anton De Pasquale for Friday's 35-lap sprint, which will commence at 5:00pm local time/5:30pm AEST.

Matt Payne and Cam Waters will share the second row, with PremiAir Racing rookie Jayden Ojeda powering to fifth ahead of Wood, Allen, David Reynolds, Will Brown and Andre Heimgartner.

The biggest shock of all was Feeney, who instead of claiming a fifth straight Darwin pole, couldn't even reach Q2.

Q1

Waters lit up the time sheets early with a 1:06.4203s, with Cameron Hill slotting behind with a 1:06.4882s. Wood (1:06.2904s), De Pasquale (1:06.2717s) and Kostecki (1:06.2567s) lowered the number, before Wood went even quicker with a 1:06.2386s.

After the first runs, Wood, Kostecki, De Pasquale, Waters, Payne, Heimgartner, Feeney, Hill, Chaz Mostert and Brown formed the provisional top 10, with Jack Le Brocq just outside in 11th.

All cars rolled out for a final crack at the times in Q1, but there was drama before cars even hit the track. Thomas Randle was released into the path of Kostecki, with the two Fords making contact. Team 18, meanwhile, were late to the party and had to watch the entire field roll past.

As the times tumbled, Feeney was only 11th, and Brown 15th. Brown vaulted to eighth at the death, with Payne beating Kostecki by 0.058s. Feeney, though, ended up 13th and 0.33s off the pace, but just 0.02s outside the 10.

Ojeda starred to finish third ahead of Waters, who managed to scrape through despite firing off the road at Turn 5. Reynolds beat Mostert to the final spot in the 10 by just 0.015s, with Le Brocq 12th. It was an even tougher story for Blanchard Racing Team, with Aaron Cameron 21st and James Golding 22nd.

Q2

Drivers flew out of the lane in the mission to set a lap as the weather closed in.

Payne was first across the line with a 1:06.6318s, before Allen, Waters and Wood all jumped ahead. Only Ojeda sat in the lane, banking on one run, as his rivals returned to pit lane.

In a bizarre moment, Wood and Allen clashed through the final corner as they raced to get to pit lane. Wood remonstrated in his car, but had little time to make a case as cars were sent back out.

Payne powered to a 1:06.1003s, before Kostecki (1:06.0379s) and De Pasquale (1:06.0630s) jumped ahead. Drivers pushed on for a second lap, but only Waters improved.

It delivered a timely pole to Kostecki, who dropped from 23 to 173 points off the pace across a bruising Tasmania weekend. Payne, meanwhile, is 90 points behind Feeney.

De Pasquale was 0.0251s away from a timely pole of his own, with the top four of Kostecki, De Pasquale, Payne and Waters covered by just 0.094s.

The 35-lap race will commence at 5:00pm local/5:30pm AEST.