Reigning champion Jamie Whincup and teammate Craig Lowndes have secured a front-row lock-out in qualifying for Saturday’s two V8 Supercars Championship races at Symmons Plains, although Lowndes was subsequently stripped of his second qualifying session results for a technical infringement.
With qualifying split into two ten-minute sessions around the high-speed Launceston circuit, Whincup and Lowndes’ Holdens were split by a tiny six-hundredths of a second in the opening session, posting the eventual pole-winning time in the dying seconds of play.
Russell Ingall chased them hard with a sensational third-fastest effort, a result all the more impressive given the limited resources at the Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport team and the veteran not being known for his qualifying prowess. He lines up alongside James Courtney on the second row of the grid.
Ford duo David Reynolds and Mark Winterbottom secured a third-row berth, ahead of the Volvo S60 of Scott McLaughlin, which is still suffering from power steering woes that cropped up in Friday’s practice sessions. Shane van Gisbergen, Chaz Mostert and Will Davison rounded out the top ten.
Nick Percat had his times disallowed after triggering a red flag when he beached his newly-liveried Holden in the Turn 4 gravel trap.
2014 V8 Supercars Tyrepower Tasmania 400 – Race 1 Qualifying:
Driver | Team / Entry | Result | |||
1. | Jamie Whincup | ![]() |
Red Bull Racing / Holden Commodore VF | ![]() |
51.411 |
2. | Craig Lowndes | ![]() |
Red Bull Racing / Holden Commodore VF | ![]() |
+ 0.060 |
3. | Russell Ingall | ![]() |
Repair Management / Holden Commodore VF | ![]() |
+ 0.183 |
4. | James Courtney | ![]() |
Holden Racing Team / Holden Commodore VF | ![]() |
+ 0.224 |
5. | David Reynolds | ![]() |
The Bottle-O Racing Team / Ford Falcon FG | ![]() |
+ 0.244 |
6. | Mark Winterbottom | ![]() |
Pepsi Max Crew FPR / Ford Falcon FG | ![]() |
+ 0.251 |
7. | Scott McLaughlin | ![]() |
Valvoline Racing Polestar GRM / Volvo S60 | ![]() |
+ 0.271 |
8. | Shane van Gisbergen | ![]() |
TEKNO VIP Petfoods / Holden Commodore VF | ![]() |
+ 0.295 |
9. | Chaz Mostert | ![]() |
Pepsi Max Crew FPR / Ford Falcon FG | ![]() |
+ 0.303 |
10. | Will Davison | ![]() |
Erebus Motorsport / Mercedes E63 AMG | ![]() |
+ 0.311 |
11. | David Wall | ![]() |
Wilson Security Racing / Ford Falcon FG | ![]() |
+ 0.318 |
12. | Fabian Coulthard | ![]() |
Lockwood Racing / Holden Commodore VF | ![]() |
+ 0.322 |
13. | Lee Holdsworth | ![]() |
Erebus Motorsport / Mercedes E63 AMG | ![]() |
+ 0.366 |
14. | Garth Tander | ![]() |
Holden Racing Team / Holden Commodore VF | ![]() |
+ 0.369 |
15. | Scott Pye | ![]() |
Wilson Security Racing / Ford Falcon FG | ![]() |
+ 0.381 |
16. | Tim Slade | ![]() |
SuperCheap Auto Racing / Holden Commodore VF | ![]() |
+ 0.396 |
17. | James Moffat | ![]() |
Nissan Hornets / Nissan Altima | ![]() |
+ 0.476 |
18. | Todd Kelly | ![]() |
Jack Daniel’s Racing / Nissan Altima | ![]() |
+ 0.479 |
19. | Rick Kelly | ![]() |
Jack Daniel’s Racing / Nissan Altima | ![]() |
+ 0.482 |
20. | Jason Bright | ![]() |
Team BOC / Holden Commodore VF | ![]() |
+ 0.544 |
21. | Robert Dahlgren | ![]() |
Valvoline Racing Polestar GRM / Volvo S60 | ![]() |
+ 0.569 |
22. | Jack Perkins | ![]() |
Jeld-Wen / Ford Falcon FG | ![]() |
+ 0.578 |
23. | Michael Caruso | ![]() |
Nissan Hornets / Nissan Altima | ![]() |
+ 0.590 |
24. | Dale Wood | ![]() |
Team ADVAM / Holden Commodore VF | ![]() |
+ 0.848 |
25. | Nick Percat | ![]() |
Walkinshaw Racing/ Holden Commodore VF | ![]() |
no time |
Qualifying for Saturday’s second race saw Whincup set the early pace before again be deposed by Lowndes, only for the five-time series champion to come through with another pole-winning effort on his second run, claiming the sport by a sizeable 0.2 seconds.
Winterbottom was third-quickest in his Ford, ahead of McLaughlin’s Volvo. Last year’s Symmons Plains winner Fabian Coulthard qualified fifth-quickest, while the Erebus duo of Lee Holdsworth and Will Davison gave the team plenty of smiles with sixth and seventh respectively.
Todd Kelly was eighth-fastest in his Nissan, ensuring all five manufacturers were represented on the first four rows of the grid, while Garth Tander and David Reynolds completed the top-ten. Import racer Robert Dahlgren was eleventh in the second Volvo S60, marking his best qualifying performance so far in the series.
However, everyone bar the two Red Bull Holdens found themselves bumped up one grid slot after Lowndes’ times were disqualified following an investigation by the event stewards. The team was found to have violated the regulations after Lowndes’ car was spotted with blanking tape covering access holes in his car’s driver- and passenger-side windows, which could have given him an aerodynamic advantage along Symmons Plains’ two long straights.
2014 V8 Supercars Tyrepower Tasmania 400 – Race 2 Qualifying:
Driver | Team / Entry | Result | |||
1. | Jamie Whincup | ![]() |
Red Bull Racing / Holden Commodore VF | ![]() |
51.143 |
2. | Mark Winterbottom | ![]() |
Pepsi Max Crew FPR / Ford Falcon FG | ![]() |
+ 0.316 |
3. | Scott McLaughlin | ![]() |
Valvoline Racing Polestar GRM / Volvo S60 | ![]() |
+ 0.356 |
4. | Fabian Coulthard | ![]() |
Lockwood Racing / Holden Commodore VF | ![]() |
+ 0.371 |
5. | Lee Holdsworth | ![]() |
Erebus Motorsport / Mercedes E63 AMG | ![]() |
+ 0.374 |
6. | Will Davison | ![]() |
Erebus Motorsport / Mercedes E63 AMG | ![]() |
+ 0.377 |
7. | Todd Kelly | ![]() |
Jack Daniel’s Racing / Nissan Altima | ![]() |
+ 0.408 |
8. | Garth Tander | ![]() |
Holden Racing Team / Holden Commodore VF | ![]() |
+ 0.410 |
9. | David Reynolds | ![]() |
The Bottle-O Racing Team / Ford Falcon FG | ![]() |
+ 0.421 |
10. | Robert Dahlgren | ![]() |
Valvoline Racing Polestar GRM / Volvo S60 | ![]() |
+ 0.448 |
11. | Jack Perkins | ![]() |
Jeld-Wen / Ford Falcon FG | ![]() |
+ 0.470 |
12. | Scott Pye | ![]() |
Wilson Security Racing / Ford Falcon FG | ![]() |
+ 0.482 |
13. | Jason Bright | ![]() |
Team BOC / Holden Commodore VF | ![]() |
+ 0.509 |
14. | Rick Kelly | ![]() |
Jack Daniel’s Racing / Nissan Altima | ![]() |
+ 0.520 |
15. | David Wall | ![]() |
Wilson Security Racing / Ford Falcon FG | ![]() |
+ 0.529 |
16. | James Courtney | ![]() |
Holden Racing Team / Holden Commodore VF | ![]() |
+ 0.548 |
17. | Russell Ingall | ![]() |
Repair Management / Holden Commodore VF | ![]() |
+ 0.551 |
18. | James Moffat | ![]() |
Nissan Hornets / Nissan Altima | ![]() |
+ 0.566 |
19. | Chaz Mostert | ![]() |
Pepsi Max Crew FPR / Ford Falcon FG | ![]() |
+ 0.577 |
20. | Michael Caruso | ![]() |
Nissan Hornets / Nissan Altima | ![]() |
+ 0.593 |
21. | Nick Percat | ![]() |
Walkinshaw Racing/ Holden Commodore VF | ![]() |
+ 0.596 |
22. | Tim Slade | ![]() |
SuperCheap Auto Racing / Holden Commodore VF | ![]() |
+ 0.598 |
23. | Shane van Gisbergen | ![]() |
TEKNO VIP Petfoods / Holden Commodore VF | ![]() |
+ 0.605 |
24. | Dale Wood | ![]() |
Team ADVAM / Holden Commodore VF | ![]() |
+ 0.645 |
EXC. | Craig Lowndes | ![]() |
Red Bull Racing / Holden Commodore VF | ![]() |
Excluded |
Saturday’s two 100-kilometre races will kick off at 14:35 and 16:35 local time (GMT +11).
Image via V8 Supercars Championship Media
Richard Bailey
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