Ford’s Scott McLaughlin concedes he « stuffed up » his Supercars qualifying session, making a fourth straight race victory extremely difficult.
The championship leader struggled in the first part of qualifying for the second race of the Perth Supersprint at Barbagallo Raceway on Sunday.
McLaughlin will start from 19th on the grid in the 83-lap race after 2016 champion Shane van Gisbergen (Holden) claimed pole in style.
The legendary Peter Brock (1978) and Larry Perkins (1997) share the record for the lowest grid start (12th) to win a race at the Western Australian circuit.
The qualifying marked a dramatic resurgence for Holden with van Gisbergen’s Red Bull teammate Jamie Whincup turning around his poor recent form to take the other spot on the front row.
Ford dominated practice, qualifying and race one in Perth, but Holden’s drivers will be well placed to end McLaughlin’s recent stranglehold.
Despite being disappointed with his qualifying performance, McLaughlin isn’t counting himself out from another win.
« It’s all hindsight now and we wanted to save the tyre, but we have to be aggressive (in the race) and have a go, » McLaughlin said.
« I can’t do much more now, I just stuffed up and I’ve done that to myself because the car was fast enough to be in the six and I didn’t make it happen. »
Tickford Racing’s Chaz Mostert will be the first Ford after qualifying third, while two Nissans round out the top-five after solid efforts from Andre Heimgartner and Rick Kelly.
The race could throw up some surprises with strong winds picking up around the track and rain expected.
McLaughlin leads van Gisbergen by 119 points in the standings, with the latter eager to win his first race since he claimed the double at the Adelaide 500 in March.
The race will get underway at 2.15pm (4.15pm AEST).
http://www.espn.com/v8-supercars/story/_/id/23414430/shane-van-gisbergen-takes-supercars-pole
