McLaughlin, Coulthard, Van Gisbergen into Shootout at Bathurst

| Photographer Credit: DJR Team Penske

A last-gasp run from Scott McLaughlin has confirmed three Kiwi drivers in the top-six in qualifying for Sunday’s SuperCheap Autos Bathurst 1000 at Mt Panorama.

McLaughlin pushed the Volvo with a run right at the end of the qualifying session today to pip all but four-times Bathurst winner Jamie Whincup.

However McLaughlin, Shane van Gisbergen and Fabian Coulthard all pushed into the top 10 with strong performances to secure places in tomorrow’s Top-10 Shootout.

Four-time winner Jamie Whincup topped qualifying in 2:05.048 with McLaughlin just 0.1s behind while Coulthard fifth with 2:05.228 and van Gisbergen sixth in 2:05.235.

Super Black Racing’s Chris Pither, the only New Zealand owned team in the championship, were also impressive to be 12th on the grid for Sunday’s 1000km Great Race, with Andre Heimgartner 25th.

McLaughlin was delighted with the car and his performance today.

“I think we have a really strong car and at least now we have track position,” McLaughlin said. “The Shootout tomorrow would be the icing on the cake but the win on Sunday is what we are looking at.

“I am feeling comfortable with both settings in my car for qualifying trim and race trim but we will see how we go.

“That last lap was cool. I was absolute right against the fence all the way. It was epic. To do that at the end in a one lap dash was good warm-up for tomorrow’s Shootout and I will give it a go.”

There is a practice session tomorrow with the Armor All Top-10 Shootout late tomorrow while Sunday’s 1000m race starts at 11am local time.

Following Bathurst is the final stop of the Pirtek Enduro Cup at Gold Coast before teams cross the Tasman for the sole New Zealand round of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship at the ITM Auckland Supersprint in Pukekohe on 4-6 November.

The ITM Auckland SuperSprint will be staged at the spiritual home of motorsport in New Zealand at Pukekohe Park Raceway on 4-6 November.

Tickets are on sale from as little as $38, with children 12 and under free with a paying adult. Fanstands start from just $74. Tickets can be purchased at www.ticketek.co.nz.

Benjamin Carrell is a freelance motorsport writer and currently edits talkmotorsport.co.nz. He writes for a number of Kiwi drivers and motorsport clubs. That's when he's not working in his horticultural day-job or training for the next road or mtb cycle race!

https://talkmotorsport.co.nz

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