Waters denies Kostecki sweep, fired up Brown 19th

Cam Waters' run of mid-year form has continued in Townsville, claiming his third Boost Mobile Pole Award of 2026 with a storming Top Ten Shootout lap.

In what had been a Shootout defined by tight margins, the Tickford star blew the one-lap dash apart with the fastest time of the weekend to deny Brodie Kostecki a pole sweep.

There were contrasting fortunes at Red Bull Ampol Racing, Broc Feeney cutting a much more positive figure after progressing to the Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout and qualifying seventh, whilst Will Brown was smarting over another "shit qualifying position" for the #888 Ford, namely 19th.

Race 22 commences at 3:05pm local time, and will be run for 68 laps.

Q1

There was early Sunday joy on what has been a miserable weekend for Brad Jones Racing, Andre Heimgartner and Cameron Hill going 1-2 on the opening used tyre run, Heimgartner encouragingly three tenths up on his Saturday time.

To prove the quality of tyres the frontrunners had at their disposal after two days of qualifying and racing, Matt Payne complained that his tyres were so bad that something felt broken in the rear of the championship-winning car.

Ryan Wood impressed, and was the only car to dip below a 1:13s, setting a 1:12.9256s to sit pretty with a 0.17s gap over Cam Waters.

Broc Feeney found speed to go fifth in Q1, but his teammate Will Brown was a shock elimination, a late Heimgartner flyer bumping an exasperated Brown to 19th on the grid.

Another surprise in the drop zone was James Golding, who faces a serious risk of falling out of the Finals bubble at the end of the day after qualifying 21st.

Hill couldn't replicate his opening run, ending up sandwiched between Brown and Golding, with Rylan Gray, Reuben Goodall, Jackson Walls, Declan Fraser, and Aaron Seton rounding out the rear of the grid.

Q2

Chevrolet came to the party early in Q2, the Matt Stone Racing Camaros of Jack Le Brocq and Zach Bates going first and third, with PremiAir Racing's Jayden Ojeda splitting the pair.

Times were still a ways off Wood's Q1 benchmark, whilst Brodie Kostecki and Chaz Mostert, who celebrates his 200th start with Walkinshaw TWG Racing in Sunday's finale, hadn't set laps yet.

With the likes of Mostert, Kostecki, Thomas Randle, Matt Payne, and Kai Allen all outside the top 10 before the final run, there was set to be big movements throughout the leaderboard.

Kostecki's lap was a belter, going to the top on a 1:12.8773s, which was quickly beaten by Waters, and then Payne, who had been complaining about his performance at Turn 2 earlier in the session.

Payne claimed his second straight provisional pole with a 1:12.8435, with Waters just 0.0025s back, and Kostecki 0.0338s off.

Mostert was also within a tenth of Payne in a strong run to fourth, whilst Feeney fought back to claim provisional fifth after his frustrating weekend.

Anton De Pasquale missed the Shootout again for Team 18 in 13th, two spots behind teammate David Reynolds, who was 0.04s slower than Kai Allen in 10th.

Aaron Cameron will split the two factory Chevrolets in 12th on the grid, whilst Bates and Le Brocq could only go 14th and 15th after their strong opening stanza.

Cooper Murray, Jobe Stewart, and Macauley Jones rounded out the top 18.

Top Ten Shootout

Allen was the first out in the Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout, and set a very strong benchmark of a 1:12.8873s, three tenths up on his Q2 effort and putting big pressure on the chasing pack.

Andre Heimgartner was half a second off on used tyres, but a top 10 start was a big improvement on his sub-20th starts across the first two races.

Jayden Ojeda slotted into third on a used tyre, but Ryan Wood was able to pip the #26 Ford by 0.0469s, the new marker being a 1:12.8404s.

Thomas Randle could only go third, which was short-lived as Broc Feeney then took the position, though within a tenth of a second of Wood's provisional pole time.

Wood also had the measure of teammate Mostert, who stormed home with the fastest split in the final sector to go third, however Wood's time at the top wouldn't last much longer.

Brodie Kostecki replicated Mostert with a fastest final sector, and moved ahead of the Kiwi by just 0.0670s with a 1:12.7734s, but faced a nervous wait with Friday and Saturday winners Cam Waters and Matt Payne to come.

The Monster Mustang also got better and better as the lap wore on, putting two tenths on Kostecki with the fastest time of the weekend, a 1:12.5644s.

Matt Payne looked as though he'd give Waters a real run for his money, but wheelspin exiting the final corner meant the championship leader could only manage third.

That leaves a front row of Waters and Kostecki, with the 10 rounded out by Payne, Wood, Allen, Mostert, Feeney, Randle, Heimgartner, and Ojeda.