Allen falters, Waters blazes to Darwin pole
Kai Allen falters, Cam Waters blazes to Darwin pole
Waters in box seat to win Triple Crown with brilliant pole
Allen to start 12th, Matt Payne scores front row start
A qualifying slump for Kai Allen and supreme Shootout lap has put Cam Waters in the box seat to win the 2026 betr Darwin Triple Crown.
The Tickford Racing star nailed his Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout lap to secure a second pole in as many days. With Allen only 12th, Waters has a golden chance to turn a five-point deficit into a Triple Crown win.
Anton De Pasquale and Broc Feeney form an intriguing second row, with Supercars champions Chaz Mostert and Will Brown to launch from fifth and sixth.
The biggest applause was reserved for Todd Hazelwood, who after being announced as Brodie Kostecki's replacement just minutes before qualifying, starred to 13th. Such was Hazelwood's performance, that he out-qualified the sister car of Rylan Gray.
While Waters celebrated, Allen could only watch on, his Triple Crown hopes hinging on a comeback drive in Sunday's 200km race.
"Firstly, I just had a bit of a soft pedal, and wasn't very happy. Secondly, I just didn't have the speed," Allen said.
"I was really struggling out there for grip, and put a lot of messy laps together, but at the end there I felt like I executed a lap really well, I just ultimately didn't have the speed.
"We know we've got a fast race car, and we'll fight forward, but it's a bit unfortunate."
Race 19 Qualifying
Feeney kicked off the Qualifying/Shootout double with a 1:06.8998s, before Waters (1:06.8454s), Payne (1:06.8016s) and Allen (1:06.8164s) marched ahead.
Gray launched to the top with a 1:06.7812s to end the first runs on top, ahead of Payne, De Pasquale, Allen and Waters. Hazelwood completed a three-lap run, and was 19th on the time sheets before drivers returned to the track.
Drivers pushed the limits, with some going over them. Notably, James Golding and Macauley Jones ran off at Turn 1, while Jayden Ojeda bowled a wide at Turn 5. Mostert, meanwhile, was the only driver who hadn't set a time before the second runs.
Hazelwood jumped to 13th, with Waters fastest on a 1:06.4243s ahead of Feeney, Payne, De Pasquale and Gray. Mostert cruised to seventh, while Allen survived a scare to sit 17th. Declan Fraser, Golding, Jones, Jackson Walls, Cooper Murray and Jobe Stewart were all eliminated.
Payne then kicked off Q2 with a 1:06.8122s, before Waters and Brown skipped ahead. Jack Le Brocq moved the number to a 1:06.6176s ahead of Mostert's 1:06.6822s, before attention turned to Andre Heimgartner, who rotated at Turn 1. The #8 R&J Batteries Supra sparked a grass fire, with officials throwing the red flags.
Feeney was only 10th, and Allen 17th, as drivers kicked off the final runs. Payne and Waters moved into the 1:06.3s, with De Pasquale and Brown just behind. Feeney and Mostert motored into the top four, setting up a grandstand finish to claim a Shootout berth.
Payne ended up 0.036s ahead of Waters, with Feeney, Mostert, De Pasquale, Brown, Hill, Heimgartner, Le Brocq and Bates forming the 10. Ryan Wood missed out by 0.007s, with Allen only 12th.
Top Ten Shootout
Bates was first out in the Shootout, and laid down a 1:06.8326s. MSR teammate Le Brocq returned serve with a 1:06.7886s, before Heimgartner slotted in behind the two Camaros with a 1:06.9313s. Heimgartner's teammate Hill then fell just 0.005s short of Le Brocq's time.
Armed with green tyres, Brown flew home with a wet sail to nail a 1:06.6428s, despite fighting his #888 Red Bull Ampol Ford through the Turn 6 hairpin. However, De Pasquale powered up the road with a 1:06.4253s, putting the remaining drivers on notice.
Mostert turned up the wick in Sector 1, going a tenth faster, before falling away in the second half of the lap to end up 0.155s down. Feeney then clawed back time in the middle sector, but De Pasquale's time held firm.
Waters fought his Monster Ford through the first sector, before the time came back to him in the final two sectors to lay down a 1:06.2529s for Payne to chase. On new tyres, Payne fell just 0.06 short, setting up a tantalising front row following their run-in on Saturday.
The betr Darwin Triple Crown concludes with Race 19 at 2:40pm local/3:10pm AEST.
