Team Vodafone's Jamie Whincup took pole position for race one of the Sucrogen Townsville 400 after his teammate Craig Lowndes's made an error late on his shootout lap.
Lowndes had been fastest in the session beforehand and looked set for a front row start at worst, as he was up on his teammate through the first two sectors. But late in the lap he locked his rear brakes at the hairpin, losing time and dropping all the way down to 10th position. Next best was Mark Winterbottom, 0.3sec off Whincup's pace, with Garth Tander and Jason Bright in third and fourth places more than half a second off pole.
The two Jim Beam cars line up next, points leader James Courtney just ahead of Steven Johnson. Fabian Coulthard, Lee Holdsworth, Shane van Gisbergen and Lowndes complete the top 10. The two Jack Daniel's Racing cars of Todd and Rick Kelly just missed the top 10 in 12th and 13th, just ahead of the second HRT car of Will Davison.
Teammates Greg Murphy and Russell Ingall struggled badly in qualifying, down in 23rd and 27th in cars very similar to that on pole position. Another car down the field in 25th position was Team BOC's Jason Richards, a surprising result after he was fastest during Friday's practice sessions.
Pos Driver Car Time
1. Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore VE 1m13.3223s
2. Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon FG 1m13.6361s +0.3138s
3. Garth Tander Holden Commodore VE 1m13.8638s +0.5415s
4. Jason Bright Holden Commodore VE 1m13.8859s +0.5636s
5. James Courtney Ford Falcon FG 1m13.9123s +0.5900s
6. Steven Johnson Ford Falcon FG 1m13.9416s +0.6193s
7. Fabian Coulthard Holden Commodore VE 1m14.0071s +0.6848s
8. Lee Holdsworth Holden Commodore VE 1m14.0149s +0.6926s
9. Shane Van Gisbergen Ford Falcon FG 1m14.5248s +1.2025s
10. Craig Lowndes Holden Commodore VE 1m14.6617s +1.3394s
11. Steven Richards Ford Falcon FG 1m13.6230s +0.3007s
12. Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VE 1m13.6450s +0.3227s
13. Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VE 1m13.6708s +0.3485s
14. Will Davison Holden Commodore VE 1m13.7111s +0.3888s
15. Jason Bargwanna Holden Commodore VE 1m13.7701s +0.4478s
16. Michael Caruso Holden Commodore VE 1m13.8024s +0.4801s
17. Tim Slade Ford Falcon FG 1m13.8851s +0.5628s
18. Andrew Thompson Holden Commodore VE 1m14.0246s +0.7023s
19. Alex Davison Ford Falcon FG 1m14.0263s +0.7040s
20. Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VE 1m14.1207s +0.7984s
21. Karl Reindler Holden Commodore VE 1m14.1392s +0.8169s
22. Dean Fiore Ford Falcon FG 1m14.1621s +0.8398s
23. Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VE 1m14.2218s +0.8995s
24. Paul Dumbrell Ford Falcon FG 1m14.2494s +0.9271s
25. Jason Richards Holden Commodore VE 1m14.2771s +0.9548s
26. Tony D'Alberto Holden Commodore VE 1m14.2850s +0.9627s
27. Russell Ingall Holden Commodore VE 1m14.4912s +1.1689s
28. Jonathon Webb Ford Falcon FG 1m14.5145s +1.1922s
29. Tony Ricciardello Holden Commodore VE 1m15.1660s +1.8437s