Brodie Kostecki has followed up his practice pace by making history and achieving the first Gen3 pole on the streets of Newcastle.
A scorching lap around the Newcastle street circuit ensured the Coca-Cola Racing by Erebus Chevrolet Camaro will start from pole as he set a 1m 11.848s in the Top 10 Shootout, sharing the front row with the Monster Energy Racing Ford Mustang of Cam Waters.
Moving from sixth to second after a 1m 12.000 lap, Waters edged Red Bull Ampol Racing Team’s Broc Feeney by a remarkable 0.0007s to sit atop of the standings for much of the session until Kostecki’s turn.
In what was a superb effort, Nulon Racing’s two Chevrolet Camaros made the shootout as Tim Slade clocked the fourth quickest time and teammate James Golding will start 10th.
Penrite Racing’s David Reynolds and reigning Repco Supercars Championship winner Shane van Gisbergen make up the third row as the latter locked a brake early in his lap.
Optus Mobil 1 Racing’s Chaz Mostert had a disappointing shootout to be seventh alongside the R&J Batteries Camaro of Andre Heimgartner, with Pye sharing the final row alongside Golding.
Kostecki led the way in the earlier qualifying session as he stopped the clocks at a 1m 11.321s to lead Mostert by 0.037s.
Van Gisbergen, Slade, Reynolds, Waters, Feeney, Heimgartner, Pye and Golding were all within 0.5s as it proved tight. Kostecki’s Coca-Cola Racing by Erebus teammate Will Brown missed by 0.25s.
A major shock was both Shell V-Power Racing Ford Mustangs missing the top 10. Will Davison placed 14th, three spots ahead of teammate Anton De Pasquale.
Nick Percat will also be one to watch after qualifying in 21st for NTI Mobil 1 Racing.
Cameron Hill was again lead rookie in his Truck Assist Racing Chevrolet Camaro in 19th.
The opening 250km encounter for the Repco Supercars Championship at Newcastle will begin at 3:20pm AEDT.