With Bathurst's qualifying procedure broken into two sessions across Friday and Saturday, today's run for pole did two things: It set the grid for tomorrow's Top 10 Shootout, where the final order of the top 10 and pole position will be awarded, and it locked positions 11 through 29 in place for Sunday's 1000-kilometer race.
Tander was quite pleased with his performance, but reckons there are three or four areas where his Holden can be improved for the Top 10 Shootout. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)
Tander, who ran seventh in Friday?s wet practice session and fourth in this morning?s first dry outing of the event, hauled his HRT Holden Commodore VE to Friday?s pole in the final moments of the session, clocking a lap of 2:07.664.
?It was good to get some consistent dry running today,? said Tander. ?The car was very, very good this morning. I was kind of surprised at the lack of speed looking at the qualifying times. We all were in the [high] 2:07s this morning and you?d expect we?d be in the low 2:07s in qualifying this afternoon, but it wasn?t to be. I?m very happy with the car, though; it?s very comfortable across the top. Easily the best car I?ve had here before.?
Leading the field during preliminary qualifying, as Tander explains, is nice, but rarely counts for much.
?It?s only Friday,? he said. ?We still have the Shootout to go. Where we start is insignificant on Sunday for a 1000 kilometer battle. If we can start somewhere near the front we?ll be happy.?
Ford?s factory ace, Mark ?Frosty? Winterbottom improved one spot from this morning, taking second-place in his Orrcon Steel-sponsored Falcon. Frosty?s lap of 2:07.718 was close to what Tander achieved, but the 2010 Bathurst pole-sitter says his car will need a bit of fine tuning if he?s to earn his second straight pole.
?The car was good,? he said. ?I was up on the second sector twice. I snagged a tire at The Chase, but I?m happy to be in the Shootout; that?s the main thing. I think the car can be improved. We improved some at slow speed corners and lost some at the top--we picked up understeer. If we can marry one up with the other, I think the car will be quite good. Tomorrow, that one lap doesn?t mean a lot for Sunday, but it means a lot for Saturday night. I?d love to be on pole position and it is a big thing. So we?ll tune it, try and put it on pole and try to lead the race and see how we go.?
2011?s dominant team, Triple 8 Engineering, placed Jamie Whincup in third after his crew worked minor miracles to repair the two-time series champion?s car after a hard hit just before qualifying.
?There?s been plenty of times where I?ve done some major damage,? said Whincup of his crash atop the mountain. ?They?ve fixed it and it?s absolutely perfect. It?s great.?
Whincup rewarded the T8 team with a lap of 2:07.740, which was good enough for third.
Jason Bargwanna's team has plenty of work to do to get his Holden Commodore back into running shape. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)
Like the rest of the qualifiers, Whincup also felt the effects of the wind slowing cars as they blast from Forrest?s elbow to The Chase.
?I was having a bit of a go at the engine guys, saying it felt down on power, [but] there was quite a big headwind going [down Conrod Straight],? he continued. ?We?re all a half-second down at the moment.?
Watch the Bathurst 1000 Live on SPEED, Saturday, 7 p.m. ET
The unquestionable star of Friday?s qualifying was David Reynolds, who secured fourth and his place inside the Shootout with a stellar last-lap performance. Reynolds, one of the rising stars of the series, was quite shocked after displacing so many of the big names in V8 Supercars.
?I could cry!? he said after climbing from his Stratco-sponsored Holden. ?That was gold. This is just awesome. I?ve had such a bad day today and nothing?s gone right until that very last lap. I just threw it on the line, chucked it down the hill, stomped out of it on Conrod Straight and ended up P4. I?ve still got the Shootout to do but that?s awesome. And most people do it on their second flying lap; that was on my first lap.?
Fifth went to an equally surprising name as Greg Murphy, Reynolds? Kelly Racing teammate and the owner of the Bathurst qualifying record, tapped into his more youthful days and delivered an amazing lap of 2:07.912 in his Pepsi Max-sponsored Commodore.
?You know, that?s what we?re paid to do and we haven?t done it enough this year,? said the feisty New Zealander. ?You?ve got to repay all the hard work and it?s good to have been able to do a lap. It wasn?t effortless by any means, there?s still a bit in it. It wasn?t a perfect lap, there?s two more tenths in the car there?s no doubt about that.?
The rest of the top 10 was completed with Whincup?s teammate, five-time Bathurst winner Craig Lowndes, in sixth, Tander?s HRT teammate James Courtney in seventh, Garry Rogers Motorsports? Lee Holdsworth in eighth, Stone Brothers Racing?s Shane van Gisbergen in ninth and Steve Owen, also delivering an unexpectedly good driver, in 10th behind the wheel of the Paul Morris Motorsports? Holden.
DW couldn't believe how fast Bright's V8 Supercar went around the mountain, or how daunting some of the turns happened to be. (Photo: Mark Horsburgh/V8 Supercars)
Winterbottom?s factory Ford teammate, Will Davison, was on the bubble in 10th as the checkered flag waved, but Reynolds demoted the 2009 championship runner-up to 11th, the first car out of Saturday?s Shootout.
UPDATE: After the conclusion of Friday's qualifying, Lee Holdsworth was penalized five grid positions for failing to stop at the post-session weight check station. Will Davison has now been promoted to 10th and will transfer into the Top 10 Shootout.
Just one accident occurred during qualifying, but it didn?t slow the session.
Qualifying came to a conclusion just as Jason Bargwanna speared hard into the wall on entry to The Dipper. His Jana Living-sponsored Holden will require extensive repairs if it?s to take part in Saturday?s morning practice session.
With Thursday filled with rain, Friday mostly dry and the specter of rain on the horizon for Saturday and Sunday, tomorrow's Shootout could be largely academic, but even this early in the event, teams are readying themselves for 1000 kilometers of changing conditions.
Adapting to Bathurst is the only option available, and for the best teams in the series, strategy planning sessions are already under way for what could be a wild six hours on Sunday.
NOTES:
? SPEED's Bathurst 1000 broadcasters held a press conference Friday morning, and based on the continual feedback from those within the series and the media-at-large, the American support and interest in the V8 Supercars series has been a major talking point of the event so far.
? 2010 ALMS LMP co-champion Marino Franchitti, who will drive for Lucas Dumbrell Motorsports at the Gold Coast 600 in two weeks, made the trek down to Bathurst to familiarize himself with the car and team ahead of his V8 debut.
? Jason Bright took SPEED's Darrell Waltrip for a wild ride shortly after qualifying came to a close, and if his in-car audio is anything to go by, it was unlike anything he's ever experienced.
"All I could do is hold on," said Waltrip. "You know that bug eye feeling? I had that all the way around! That's hard work. After the first lap I thought the throttle was stuck but then I realised he was working it all! It's amazing how fast they are and with so much grip! The car started 'popping' and you don't even want to know what's going to happen next! I didn't even look over to see what Jason was doing!"
? The series will announce its 2012 schedule tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m.
Pos., Car No., Team, Driver, Car, Time
1 2 Toll Holden Racing Team Garth Tander Holden Commodore VE2 2:07.6640*
2 5 Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon FG 2:07.7187
3 88 TeamVodafone Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore VE2 2:07.7408
4 16 Stratco Racing David Reynolds Holden Commodore VE2 2:07.8371
5 11 Pepsi Max Crew Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VE2 2:07.9126
6 888 TeamVodafone Craig Lowndes Holden Commodore VE2 2:08.0024
7 1 Toll Holden Racing Team James Courtney Holden Commodore VE2 2:08.0035
8 33 Fujitsu Racing GRM Lee Holdsworth Holden Commodore VE2 2:08.0942
9 9 SP Tools Racing Shane Van Gisbergen Ford Falcon FG 2:08.0955
10 49 VIP Petfoods Steve Owen Holden Commodore VE2 2:08.1411
11 6 Trading Post FPR Falcon Will Davison Ford Falcon FG 2:08.1982
12 55 The Bottle-O Racing Team Paul Dumbrell Ford Falcon FG 2:08.2443
13 4 Irwin Racing Alex Davison Ford Falcon FG 2:08.2887
14 34 Fujitsu Racing GRM Michael Caruso Holden Commodore VE2 2:08.4464
15 47 Lucky 7 Racing Tim Slade Ford Falcon FG 2:08.4721
16 15 Jack Daniel's Racing Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VE2 2:08.5250
17 18 Jim Beam Racing James Moffat Ford Falcon FG 2:08.6631
18 8 Team Boc Jason Bright Holden Commodore VE2 2:08.6681
19 7 Jack Daniel's Racing Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VE2 2:08.7271
20 61 Bundaberg Racing Fabian Coulthard Holden Commodore VE2 2:08.7746
21 14 Jana Living Racing Jason Bargwanna Holden Commodore VE2 2:09.1155
22 30 Gulf Western Oil Racing Warren Luff Holden Commodore VE2 2:09.1503
23 3 Wilson Security Team McGrath Tony D'Alberto Ford Falcon FG 2:09.1948
24 17 Jim Beam Racing Steven Johnson Ford Falcon FG 2:09.3076
25 200 Supercheap Auto Racing Russell Ingall Holden Commodore VE2 2:09.3328
26 19 Mother Energy Racing Team Jonathon Webb Ford Falcon FG 2:09.4017
27 21 Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing Karl Reindler Holden Commodore VE2 2:09.4020
28 12 Triple F Racing Dean Fiore Ford Falcon FG 2:10.0191
29 77 Shannons Mars Racing Grant Denyer Holden Commodore VE2 5000 2:11.7371
Marshall Pruett is SPEED.com's Auto Racing Editor, covering IndyCar and sports cars. He also contributes to Road & Track and Racecar Engineering. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
Source: http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/v8-tander-fastest-in-friday-bathurst-qualifying/
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