Jim Beam Racing team-mates Steven Johnson and James Courtney secured the front row in this morning's qualifying for the second race of the Hamilton 400 in New Zealand.


However, their cause was helped by a red flag for Tim Slade's car in the wall with two and a half minutes remaining in the 20 minute session, which then became the end of the session as it was called to a premature end, leaving many runners on track with new rubber and nowhere to go.


Last year's polesitter Steven Richards qualified third, while the driver dealt the cruellest blow was Jamie Whincup who was set to go four-tenths faster than Johnson when the flag fell just a second or two before he got to the start/finish line, Whincup's earlier effort good enough for fourth.


The Garry Rogers duo of Michael Caruso and Lee Holdsworth ended up fifth and sixth fastest after their own good early efforts (and despite Holdsworth brushing the wall in the middle of the session).


Shane van Gisbergen qualified seventh ahead of Craig Lowndes, Fabian Coulthard's ninth a much better result than yesterday while Mark Winterbottom's tenth position probably reflects him missing out on his final run rather than a lack of pace.


A team that appear to have been hit hard by the red flag was Holden Racing Team, with Garth Tander and Will Davison lining up on the tenth row in 19th and 20th position.

Pos  Driver                Car                   Time
 1.  Steven Johnson        Ford Falcon FG        1:24.1606 
 2.  James Courtney        Ford Falcon FG        1:24.2377  + 0.0771
 3.  Steven Richards       Ford Falcon FG        1:24.2430  + 0.0824
 4.  Jamie Whincup         Ford Falcon FG        1:24.2932  + 0.1326
 5.  Michael Caruso        Holden Commodore VE   1:24.2962  + 0.1356
 6.  Lee Holdsworth        Holden Commodore VE   1:24.3214  + 0.1608
 7.  Shane Van Gisbergen   Ford Falcon FG        1:24.3568  + 0.1962
 8.  Craig Lowndes         Ford Falcon FG        1:24.3960  + 0.2354
 9.  Fabian Coulthard      Ford Falcon FG        1:24.4171  + 0.2565
10.  Mark Winterbottom     Ford Falcon FG        1:24.4447  + 0.2841
11.  Greg Murphy           Holden Commodore VE   1:24.4647  + 0.3041
12.  Russell Ingall        Holden Commodore VE   1:24.4872  + 0.3266
13.  Rick Kelly            Holden Commodore VE   1:24.5692  + 0.4086
14.  Paul Dumbrell         Holden Commodore VE   1:24.6161  + 0.4555
15.  Jason Bright          Ford Falcon BF        1:24.6622  + 0.5016
16.  Tony D'Alberto        Holden Commodore VE   1:24.6660  + 0.5054
17.  Todd Kelly            Holden Commodore VE   1:24.6824  + 0.5218
18.  Jason Richards        Holden Commodore VE   1:24.7050  + 0.5444
19.  Garth Tander          Holden Commodore VE   1:24.7090  + 0.5484
20.  Will Davison          Holden Commodore VE   1:24.7151  + 0.5545
21.  Alex Davison          Ford Falcon FG        1:24.7493  + 0.5887
22.  David Reynolds        Holden Commodore VE   1:24.7671  + 0.6065
23.  Jason Bargwanna       Holden Commodore VE   1:24.8507  + 0.6901
24.  Jack Perkins          Holden Commodore VE   1:24.8739  + 0.7133
25.  Michael Patrizi       Ford Falcon BF        1:25.2186  + 1.0580
26.  Tim Slade             Holden Commodore VE   1:25.4154  + 1.2548
27.  Dale Wood             Holden Commodore VE   1:25.5536  + 1.3930
28.  Cameron McConville    Holden Commodore VE   1:25.6336  + 1.4730
29.  Marcus Marshall       Ford Falcon BF        1:25.6799  + 1.5193
30.  Dean Fiore            Holden Commodore VE   1:26.0984  + 1.9378