Matt Stone declares provisional Bathurst pole not a major shock
Zach Bates broke Gen3 qualifying record in MSR Camaro
Bates, Jack Le Brocq put both MSR Chevys in Shootout
Matt Stone has declared that his team's first ever provisional pole at Bathurst wasn't too big of a shock internally.
MSR has become something of a giant killer in the Gen3 era, winning races in the last three seasons.
While they are yet to win a race in 2026, they have claimed a provisional Bathurst pole courtesy of a storming drive from rookie Zach Bates, who broke the Gen3 qualifying lap record.
Adding to the elation, the sister entry of Jack Le Brocq, battling for one of the last two Finals berths in Bathurst, qualified a provisional seventh to get two MSR Camaros into the Bathurst Shootout for the second year in a row.
"It's a hell of an achievement, young Zach put a lap together," Stone told Supercars.com.
"We've been pacey all weekend, and you're not sure how you're going in practice because you don't know who's running what tyres and whatnot.
"But we were quietly confident, and to roll out with two in the 10 and one on the front row provisionally is a pretty cool feeling."
The Le Brocq/Harri Jones #4 Chevrolet had been one of the quiet achievers of the weekend to date, however Bates came to life with a setup change in Practice 4. He was on course for a mid-2:04, and potentially topping the last hitout before qualifying until he made a mistake at Murray's Corner.
However, Stone was adamant the team had the belief before then that they could challenge for the pointy end in qualifying.
"I think we knew before that. We rolled out Practice 1 and we were comfortable, we were happy," Stone revealed.
"We had quick cars here last year, and we haven't been throwing too much at it, we've just been fine tuning it and letting the drivers build up their confidence.
"Up until that last corner on that lap, he was on for a cracking lap. He messed up the easiest corner on the circuit. We got all the hard stuff done, so we were pretty confident going into qualifying."
Saturday could throw a potential weather twist into the Shootout equation, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting showers clearing.
Rain is most likely in the early morning, with the chance of a thunderstorm in the morning and afternoon. Stone isn't getting ahead of himself however, and will take it as it comes.
"A weather effected Shootout can be a little bit of a story already told right?" Stone added.
"You can just get the luck of the draw there, so we'll just play it as it goes, but looks like Sunday is good for the race. We've got good dry speed, so we're looking good."
Saturday's Supercars action will commence with Practice 5 for co-drivers at 10:05am local time.
