Feeney storms to brilliant Townsville pole, Payne second
Broc Feeney storms to stunning Townsville pole, Matt Payne second
First and second in championship, first and second on the grid for Sunday's race
Anton De Pasquale, Cam Waters charge from ninth, 10th to second row
Championship leader Broc Feeney has powered to Boost Mobile Pole at the NTI Townsville 500 with a brilliant lap in Sunday's Top Ten Shootout.
Hunting a second win in as many days, the Triple Eight Race Engineering star turned fourth in Boost Mobile Qualifying into a 10th pole position of the season.
In a Shootout headlined by converging tyre strategies, Feeney was peerless and claimed the best starting position for Sunday's 200km race, which will commence at 3:00pm AEST.
The points leader will share the front row with Penrite Racing rival Matt Payne, who trails Feeney in the standings.
"I was pretty stoked with it to be honest, I've just been struggling a lot in the first sector, and to go purple in Sector 1 is awesome," said Feeney, who claimed his first Supercars pole at Reid Park.
"I knew once I got through the first couple of corners that hopefully it would be alright, and I can't thank this team enough.
"The turnaround from Friday has been awesome, and to think that we've got 10 poles already this year is insane.
"Last three Shootouts have been awesome, quite big margins as well so I'm loving these Shootouts at the moment."
First man out Cam Waters logged a 1:13.3486s, before De Pasquale edged just ahead by 0.078s. On used tyres, Kai Allen caught a wild slide through Turn 10 and ended up 0.45s off the pace with a 1:13.7209s.
Chaz Mostert went next, and remonstrated over a lack of grip as he slotted into third with a 1:13.6279s. Teammate Ryan Wood followed, but ended up 0.620s off the pace with a 1:13.8910s.
Will Brown's 1:13.6137s put the reigning champion into third, leaving Feeney, Thomas Randle, Will Davison and Payne chasing De Pasquale's time.
At the first time of asking, Feeney went fastest in the first two sectors to nail a 1:12.9536s. Randle was only good enough for provisional fourth with a 1:13.3629s, while Davison went fifth with a 1:13.4441s.
Only Payne stood in Feeney's way of a 10th pole of the season, with a 1:12.9536s the time to chase. Down in the first two sectors, Payne went purple in the final sector, but was still 0.279s off Feeney's time.
Foxtel/Kayo and the Seven Network will take live coverage of Sunday's race. Check local guides.
