Tander Audi beats Mostert to provisional pole

The Audi featuring Garth Tander has pipped Chaz Mostert to provisional pole for the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.

Kelvin van der Linde turned a 2:02.3450s in qualifying aboard the Jamec-Pem Audi R8 LMS he is sharing with Tander and Frederic Vervisch to lead the way entering Saturday afternoon’s Top 10 Shootout.

Mostert fell just 0.0290 seconds shy at the end of 30 minutes of running dedicated to Class A machinery, and will be joined in the one-lap dash by Supercars rivals Scott McLaughlin and Shane van Gisbergen in McLarens.

Steven Richards Motorsport’s BMW recorded the first sub 2:03s lap of the weekend with Phillipp Eng, who finished the 50 minutes of full-field running four tenths clear of McLaughlin.

In the subsequent 30 minutes dedicated to the Class A machinery, that benchmark was lowered early by van der Linde, while Schnitzer Motorsport BMW driver Mostert and McLaughlin also broke into the 2:02s barrier on their first flying laps.

The session was red-flagged nine minutes in, when Lee Holdsworth crashed his Hallmarc Audi exiting Griffins Bend, spat into the inside wall after riding the outside kerb.

,” McLaughlin said.

“I’m feeling good, we’ve got to work on a few things, but it’s a lot of fun out there.

“It’s a privilege to drive a car like this around the Mountain. I’m just having fun.”

Driving a Strakka Racing Mercedes, Cameron Waters missed out on a Shootout start by just half-a-tenth and will start 11th, five spots ahead of Jamie Whincup in the Scott Taylor Motorsport AMG GT3.

The Whincup Mercedes was in the thick of the action in the first phase of qualifying, with Tristian Vautier.

Having forced his way past Dean Canto’s Lamborghini at Murray’s Corner, Vautier was slow at the apex and tagged, with the contact dislodging the Lamborghini’s bonnet panel.

Sporting diffuser damage, Vautier later went off at Turn 1, with Whincup ultimately turning the car’s best lap of the weekend - a 2:03.4383s - in the second part after repairs during the break.

Will Davison wound up 19th in his WRT Audi, one spot ahead of Holdsworth, while the David Reynolds Mercedes was 23rd and Objective Racing McLaren of Tim Slade did not venture out in the Class A session.

The Top 10 Shootout starts at 4:15pm on Saturday afternoon.