Mark Winterbottom has given Ford Performance Racing it's fourth pole position of the V8 Supercar Championship season after storming to top spot in qualifying for the latest round of the year at Surfers Paradise.
The 26-year-old Orrcon Ford Credit FPR Falcon driver was fastest in both of today's practice sessions before setting a new qualifying lap record of 1:48.4819s during this afternoon's closely contested
qualifying session.
Winterbottom's fastest lap time today was half a second faster than the previous qualifying lap record set last year by Rick Kelly and means he has now qualified on pole more than any other driver this season.
"My last two poles have been in shoot-outs and I gained this one in our normal qualifying format, making it very satisfying to have the confidence with the car to be aggressive on this unforgiving circuit, he said. You really need to be very aggressive to get a good lap time here and confidence in the car is vitally important for that reason.
I had to knock a mirror off to get the top time, but that's what you need to do on a challenging street circuit like this. It is also very pleasing to gain poles at the past three different circuits and particularly to gain pole here after the disappointment we endured at Bathurst - the team is on a high and looking forward to the races."
Castrol FPR Falcon driver Steve Richards qualified sixth fastest, earning his fourth consecutive top ten start of the season after a fast paced performance throughout the day. Richards reported some braking issues during the various session, but ended the day pleased with the significant progress made.
"I had a bit of an issue with my brakes during qualifying, but aside from that everything is great with the car, he said. It is very consistent on its tyres and this should make it a very good race car. This circuit is very tough on brakes so we will need to keep a close watch on that, as will everyone. It is all about getting a good start tomorrow and our results in that opening race will shape how things progress over the weekend."
