Jason Bright and Mark Winterbottom have posted the quickest times in the two respective qualifying sessions leading into the final races of in the Tasmania Microsoft Office 365 round of the V8 Supercars Championship at Symmons Plains Raceway.
Bright claimed his first pole position in four years, leading a Brad Jones Racing 1-2 in the first fifteen-minute qualifying session to give him pole position in today’s opening 42-lap race.
He and teammate Fabian Coulthard – who won yesterday’s ‘Super Sprint’ race – traded fastest laps in an action-packed session, and ultimate it was Bright who emerged quicker by 0.04 seconds.
Holden claimed the top-six positions on the grid, with reigning champion Jamie Whincup going third-quickest, ahead of Garth Tander, Craig Lowndes and rookie driver Scott McLaughlin.
Mark Winterbottom was the fastest of the Ford runners, claiming an all-Falcon fourth row alongside FPR teammate Will Davison, while James Courtney and Dean Fiore complete the top-ten.
The Erebus AMGs seemed to have found more pace overnight, with Lee Holdsworth clocking an impressive thirteenth-fastest time in his E63 Mercedes, one spot ahead of Shane van Gisbergen, who survived another trip into the kitty litter.
2013 V8 Supercars Tasmania Microsoft Office 365 – Race 2 Qualifying Results:
| Driver | Entry / Team | Result | ||
| 1. | Jason Bright |  |
Team BOC / Brad Jones Racing | 51.1940 |
| 2. | Fabian Coulthard | |
Lockwood Racing / Brad Jones Racing | + 0.038 |
| 3. | Jamie Whincup | |
Red Bull Racing AU / Triple 8 Engineering | + 0.151 |
| 4. | Garth Tander | |
Holden Racing Team / TWR | + 0.184 |
| 5. | Craig Lowndes | |
Red Bull Racing AU / Triple 8 Engineering | + 0.198 |
| 6. | Scott McLaughlin | |
Fujitsu Racing / Garry Rogers Motorsport | + 0.203 |
| 7. | Mark Winterbottom |  |
Pepsi Max Crew / Ford Performance Racing | + 0.233 |
| 8. | Will Davison | |
Pepsi Max Crew / Ford Performance Racing | + 0.277 |
| 9. | James Courtney | |
Holden Racing Team / TWR | + 0.399 |
| 10. | Dean Fiore | |
Dodo Insurance / Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport | + 0.426 |
| 11. | Jonathon Webb | |
Tekno Autosports | + 0.472 |
| 12. | Tony D’Alberto | |
Team HIFLEX / Tony D’Alberto Racing | + 0.484 |
| 13. | Lee Holdsworth |  |
IRWIN Racing / Erebus Motorsport | + 0.531 |
| 14. | Shane van Gisbergen | |
Team VIP / Tekno Autosports | + 0.539 |
| 15. | Alex Davison | |
Jeld-Wen Racing / Ford Performance Racing | + 0.550 |
| 16. | Todd Kelly |  |
Jack Daniel’s Racing / Nissan Motorsport | + 0.605 |
| 17. | Scott Pye | |
EKOL Racing / Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport | + 0.615 |
| 18. | David Wall | |
Wilson Security Racing / Brad Jones Racing | + 0.623 |
| 19. | Michael Caruso | |
Norton 360 Racing / Nissan Motorsport | + 0.657 |
| 20. | Alexandre Prémat | |
Fujitsu Racing / Garry Rogers Motorsport | + 0.661 |
| 21. | David Reynolds | |
Bottle-O Racing / Ford Performance Racing | + 0.665 |
| 22. | Russell Ingall | |
SuperCheap Auto Racing / TWR | + 0.722 |
| 23. | Tim Slade | |
Heavy Haulage Racing / Erebus Motorsport | + 0.734 |
| 24. | James Moffat | |
Norton 360 Racing / Nissan Motorsport | + 0.757 |
| 25. | Rick Kelly | |
Jack Daniel’s Racing / Nissan Motorsport | + 0.818 |
| 26. | Maro Engel | |
SP Tools Racing / Erebus Motorsport | + 1.050 |
| 27. | Tim Blanchard | |
Wilson Security Racing / Dick Johnson Racing | + 1.221 |
| 28. | Jonny Reid | |
Wilson Security Racing / Dick Johnson Racing | + 1.839 |
After a ten-minute break, qualifying action resumed once again to sort out the grid order for today’s second 42-lap race, and this time it was Winterbottom who emerged on top to claim Ford’s first pole position of the 2013 season.
In typical fashion, his fastest lap came right at the death, and he managed to beat home Fabian Coulthard by just 0.06 seconds to give the Kiwi a trio of second-placed grid positions this weekend.
Whincup managed another top-three spot in his Red Bull Holden, lining up ahead of a solid James Courtney and the evergreen McLaughlin.
By contrast, Craig Lowndes and Garth Tander seemed unable to string together the same performance they mustered in the earlier session; the pair line up eleventh and thirteenth for this race, two spots ahead of Lee Holdsworth’s Erebus AMG, who was again the best non-Holden or Ford qualifier.
Alexandre Premat had a troubled qualifying session, finishing well down the order after being helped into a wild spin at the final corner by Dean Fiore. The stewards are investigating the incident at the time of publication, and the Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport driver is almost certain to be hit with a penalty of some sort.
2013 V8 Supercars Tasmania Microsoft Office 365 – Race 3 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 |
 |
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Richard Bailey
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