Ford have again set the benchmark in the final 20-minute warm-up ahead of Sunday’s Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama.
DJR Team Penske gun Fabian Coulthard’s co-driver Tony D’Alberto was quickest, clocking two minutes 04.93 seconds ahead of Supercars series leader Scott McLaughlin and Nissan’s Dale Wood.
The top five for the warm-up was completed by Holden star Shane van Gisbergen and seven-time Bathurst champion Craig Lowndes.
The 26-strong field emerged unscathed from the Sunday morning session as teams made their final preparations for the 161-lap classic enduro.
The man to beat will be McLaughlin after he smashed his Mount Panorama lap record to claim pole position, clocking a blistering two minutes 03.37 seconds.
The New Zealander finished a whopping 0.41 of a second ahead of fellow Ford driver Chaz Mostert in Saturday’s qualifying with Cam Waters third fastest.
He arrived at Bathurst with a 598-point championship lead, winning a record 17 races to date this season.
Defending series champion McLaughlin has adopted a « win it or bin it » approach to claiming a maiden Bathurst title this year thanks to his runaway series lead.
He can take risks in his bid to be crowned King of the Mountain as he can afford to crash out in the next two rounds and conceivably still hold the championship lead.
Four-time Bathurst winner Jamie Whincup finished fourth fastest in qualifying on Saturday, while fellow Holden driver van Gisbergen will start from fifth on the grid.
Seven-time series champion Whincup is a favourite after hiring Lowndes as his co-driver.
They reunite after winning three-straight Great Races from 2006.
The 161-lap Bathurst 1000 starts at 1130 AEDT.
http://www.espn.com/v8-supercars/story/_/id/27832263/ford-set-early-bathurst-1000-benchmark
