Matt Payne powers back-to-back Boost Mobile Pole Awards
Championship leader to share front rows with Cam Waters, Broc Feeney
Four drivers, including Brodie Kostecki, penalised for impeding
Matt Payne has powered to back-to-back Boost Mobile Pole Awards in Perth after a morning that saw traffic become a major talking point.
Four drivers — including title contender Brodie Kostecki — were slapped with grid penalties for impeding in Race 23 Qualifying, which was punctuated by two red flag interruptions.
The second qualifying session of the morning ran uninterrupted through the 20 minutes, with a bold tyre gamble from Penrite Racing working wonders for Payne as he swept to his fifth pole of the season, and second in as many attempts.
The opening race of the weekend commences at 12:45pm local time/2:45pm AEST, before the sole Super Soft race of the weekend rounds out Saturday at 4:20pm local time/6:20pm AEST.
Race 23 Qualifying
Overnight rain presented a headache for teams and drivers alike, with the verges of the circuit still damp as cars were fitted with Soft tyres.
To underline how precarious track conditions were, both Penrite Racing Fords had moments entering Turn 1 on their first laps. Zach Bates went into the sand at Turn 1, and with the #10 Bendix Camaro beached, brought out the red flag.
The clock was paused with eight minutes on the clock. Thomas Randle leading the way on a 55.9663s, though that was only a semi-representative time based on Friday's running.
It was little more than two minutes before red flags flew again, traffic causing chaos. Bates and Jobe Stewart both baulked Chaz Mostert, while Stewart then parked up on line at Turn 7 and was drilled by Ryan Wood.
Both Bates and Stewart picked up two grid place penalties for impeding, as did Jayden Ojeda for baulking Cooper Murray at Turn 1.
Wood recovered to top Q1 on a 54.0284s. with Kostecki and Anton De Pasquale making it all three manufacturers in the top three. However, positions 11 through 13 were the big story.
Mostert, Will Brown and Broc Feeney were all eliminated, the latter furious with himself for an error at Turn 7 that cost him a transfer through to the second session.
There was more out lap madness in Q2, an off sequence Cameron Hill finding his path back to pit lane blocked by Cam Waters as he warmed up his tyres ahead of the final runs of the session.
It was Payne who stormed to his fourth pole of the season, a 54.0483s putting 0.037s on Waters in second, with Randle an excellent third to continue Tickford Racing's mid-year resurgence.
Wood will line up fourth ahead of Kai Allen, with Kostecki, Andre Heimgartner, Rylan Gray, De Pasquale, and Hill rounding out the top 10. Kostecki was then slapped with a two grid place penalty post-session for impeding Heimgartner, and will line up in eighth.
Race 24 Qualifying
The DUNLOP Soft tyre made way for the Super Soft, which made its first appearance of the weekend. That didn't stop the Penrite Racing juggernaut, Payne immediately going slightly quicker than his Race 23 Qualifying pole lap to set a 54.0462s, with teammate Allen slotting into second.
Such was Penrite Racing's confidence that the teams' championship leaders elected not to roll out for a second run at the end of Q1, and while they did fall back down the timing screens, they were comfortably through in fourth and sixth.
Randle went fastest in Q1 on a 53.8443s, with Feeney and Kostecki rounding out the top three. Wood missed the cut by just 0.0063s, while Brown missed out again in 12th.
The Q2 marker to chase for the Penrite Fords, with their saved set of Super Softs, was Feeney's 54.4310s, the #88 Red Bull Ampol Ford comfortably qualifying after missing Q2 in the earlier session.
Randle picked up where he left off to go top on a 54.4175s, before Feeney looked primed to claim a drought-breaking pole when he set a 54.2849s. However, Payne made the most of Penrite's tyre strategy to blaze to a 54.0667s, putting more than two tenths on Feeney in a commanding performance.
Allen will share the second row with Randle, the #26 Penrite Ford slotting into third late, with Mostert recovering to fifth alongside fellow Toyota driver Heimgartner. Kostecki, Waters, Gray, and De Pasquale rounded out the top 10.
