Reigning V8 Supercars Champion Jamie Whincup will lead the field away from pole position as the series contests its first ever ‘Super Sprint’ races today at Symmons Plains.
The Red Bull Racing Australia driver emerged quickest in this morning’s qualifying session, which was a typically closely-fought affair that saw the five fastest qualifiers covered by less than one-tenth of a second.
The three-time champion finished up just two-hundredths of a second quicker than fellow front-row starter Fabian Coulthard, who continued the Brad Jones Racing team’s evergreen form with another outstanding performance in his Holden Commodore.
Late runs from Mark Winterbottom, Garth Tander and Jason Bright ensured they filled the first five positions on the grid. They will be followed by Will Davison, Shane van Gisbergen, Craig Lowndes, Scott McLaughlin and Alex Davison.
Lowndes’ position should have been much better than what he managed, but his team made a meal of completing a set-up change in time for another run. Ultimately, he finished eighth-fastest, having been second-quickest behind teammate Whincup until the final four minutes of play.
Van Gisbergen was perhaps lucky to qualify as high as he did, after managing to reverse out of the Turn 4 gravel after overcooking his entry into the corner. By managing to emerge from the grid and avoid a red flag, he managed to dodge being sent to the back of the grid.
James Courtney was another driver to endure a tough session, but still manage to claim thirteenth position – a creditable result given his Holden spent much of the twenty-minute session in the garage while his mechanics investigated an undisclosed drama in his Holden.
None of the Nissan or AMG entries managed to crack the top-half of the grid as both new marques’ cars struggled to deliver the torque and top speed necessary to string together a properly competitive lap time around this short circuit. Todd Kelly was the quickest of the lot in his Nissan to qualify twentieth-fastest, half a second off Whincup’s ultimate pace.
Today’s race will be run as two 60-kilometre legs with a fifteen-minute parc ferme break in between. The second half of the race will commence with a double-file rolling start.
2013 V8 Supercars Tasmania Microsoft Office 365 – Race 1 Qualifying Results:
| Driver | Entry / Team | Result | ||
| 1. | Jamie Whincup |  |
Red Bull Racing AU / Triple 8 Engineering | 51.1057 |
| 2. | Fabian Coulthard | |
Lockwood Racing / Brad Jones Racing | + 0.0240 |
| 3. | Mark Winterbottom |  |
Pepsi Max Crew / Ford Performance Racing | + 0.0460 |
| 4. | Garth Tander | |
Holden Racing Team / TWR | + 0.0714 |
| 5. | Jason Bright | |
Team BOC / Brad Jones Racing | + 0.0764 |
| 6. | Will Davison | |
Pepsi Max Crew / Ford Performance Racing | + 0.1039 |
| 7. | Shane van Gisbergen | |
Team VIP / Tekno Autosports | + 0.1122 |
| 8. | Craig Lowndes | |
Red Bull Racing AU / Triple 8 Engineering | + 0.1648 |
| 9. | Scott McLaughlin | |
Fujitsu Racing / Garry Rogers Motorsport | + 0.2150 |
| 10. | Alex Davison | |
Jeld-Wen Racing / Ford Performance Racing | + 0.2441 |
| 11. | David Reynolds | |
Bottle-O Racing / Ford Performance Racing | + 0.2690 |
| 12. | Jonathon Webb | |
Tekno Autosports | + 0.3317 |
| 13. | James Courtney | |
Holden Racing Team / TWR | + 0.3518 |
| 14. | David Wall | |
Wilson Security Racing / Brad Jones Racing | + 0.3661 |
| 15. | Alexandre Prémat | |
Fujitsu Racing / Garry Rogers Motorsport | + 0.3761 |
| 16. | Tony D’Alberto | |
Team HIFLEX / Tony D’Alberto Racing | + 0.4032 |
| 17. | Russell Ingall | |
SuperCheap Auto Racing / TWR | + 0.4045 |
| 18. | Scott Pye | |
EKOL Racing / Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport | + 0.4213 |
| 19. | Dean Fiore | |
Dodo Insurance / Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport | + 0.4662 |
| 20. | Todd Kelly |  |
Jack Daniel’s Racing / Nissan Motorsport | + 0.5226 |
| 21. | Lee Holdsworth |  |
IRWIN Racing / Erebus Motorsport | + 0.5432 |
| 22. | James Moffat | |
Norton 360 Racing / Nissan Motorsport | + 0.5716 |
| 23. | Tim Slade | |
Heavy Haulage Racing / Erebus Motorsport | + 0.5842 |
| 24. | Michael Caruso | |
Norton 360 Racing / Nissan Motorsport | + 0.6831 |
| 25. | Maro Engel* | |
SP Tools Racing / Erebus Motorsport | + 0.6925 |
| 26. | Rick Kelly | |
Jack Daniel’s Racing / Nissan Motorsport | + 0.7294 |
| 27. | Tim Blanchard | |
Wilson Security Racing / Dick Johnson Racing | + 0.7638 |
| 28. | Jonny Reid | |
Wilson Security Racing / Dick Johnson Racing | + 0.9759 |
* Five-place grid penalty issued for earlier practice incident with Michael Caruso.
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Richard Bailey
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