Payne on provisional pole, Kostecki gamble backfires

Matt Payne has led the way in Boost Mobile Qualifying for the second day running at the NTI Townsville 500, with Friday winner Brodie Kostecki missing a Shootout berth following a gamble.

Nursing steering issues, Kostecki got out of the car and watched on as provisional fourth became 11th on the grid, with the Shell V-Power Racing Team driver to start Sunday's race from the sixth row.

Payne beat Kostecki's teammate Will Davison by 0.1598s, with Tickford Racing's Thomas Randle completing an all-Ford top three ahead of Triple Eight teammates Broc Feeney and Will Brown.

Ryan Wood and Chaz Mostert made it a Walkinshaw Andretti United 6-7, with Kai Allen, Anton De Pasquale and Cam Waters all progressing.

"I think it's a pretty similar balance to yesterday, same time obviously for qualifying," said Payne, who won last year's Sunday race in Townsville.

"We knew we had a pretty fast car yesterday, just gave it a few little tweaks and was faster again, we have a little bit of margin as well.

"I think we just need to execute in the Shootout and then do our job, and then we need to give our race car a little bit of a tune up. I think there's a little bit there to work on today

Feeney, Brown, Cooper Murray and Cameron Hill all returned to pit lane after the lights went green in Q1, with Randle opening up with a 1:13.9368s before Jaxon Evans (1:13.7469s), James Courtney (1:13.7147s) and Kostecki (1:13.5422s) reset the marker. Mostert, meanwhile, was 20th after making an error at Turn 6.

All 24 drivers hit the track with three minutes remaining, with Feeney and Brown setting about jumping out of the drop zone. Feeney and Brown jumped to first, before Mostert, Waters, Randle and Payne all jumped into the top six. Brown dropped as low as 20th, but clocked a time good enough for eighth as Payne went quickest.

Bryce Fullwood was lucky to progress, making it through by 0.006s, but his three Brad Jones Racing teammates were all knocked out, along with Aaron Cameron, Jack Le Brocq and Nick Percat.

As drivers set about sealing passage into the Shootout, Payne, Murray and Richie Stanaway came back into pit lane. Feeney kicked off Q2 with a 1:13.3363s, before but a flurry of times dropped the points leader down the order.

Randle, Brown, Waters and Kostecki jumped straight into the 1:12s, with Mostert only 15th, 1.023s off the pace. Feeney fell to 10th and pitted, with Waters improving to second. Through five minutes, the provisional 10 was comprised of Randle, Waters, Brown, Kostecki, Bryce Fullwood, Allen, Wood, James Golding, Courtney and Feeney, with De Pasquale 11th.

All drivers bad fourth-placed Kostecki, who was on a 1:12.9341s, hit the track. As Kostecki watched on, the 2023 champion dropped down to 11th, with Waters sneaking into the Shootout by just 0.029s.

Payne nailed a 1:12.5262s on his second lap to claim provisional pole, with Davison and Randle completing a Ford top three. Feeney, Brown, Wood, Mostert, Allen, De Pasquale and Waters rounded out the 10.

Supercars action resumes on Saturday with the Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout at 12:05pm. The final race of the weekend, Race 22, commences at 3:00pm.