Mark Winterbottom left it late, but still claimed pole position for the V8 Supercar Series' visit to Barbagallo in Western Australia, pipping veteran Mark Skaife in the process.
After biding his time in the three-stage knock-out format, 'Frosty' revealed the true pace of his FPR Falcon on his last lap, knocking Skaife off pole with a time of 56.4362secs.
"This track is so close; you only need a tenth to make the difference," Winterbottom said, "With the V8 Supercar knock-out format, qualifying goes down to the wire. Hopefully, people enjoyed it and the race will be as good."
Qualifying was run in dry conditions, but rain clouds are looming and could threaten the weekend's first race.
"We obviously want it to be dry this afternoon because we're quick," Winterbottom said, "Nobody's been here in the wet since about 1999 and it's hard to lead in those conditions - you've got to get off the line first!"
Skaife edged Toll/HRT team-mate, and reigning series champion Garth Tander for a place on the front row, while Craig Lowndes showed a return to form by putting the best of the TeamVodafone Fords into fourth spot.
James Courtney claimed the inside of row three, ahead of Winterbottom's FPR team-mate Steve Richards.
"That was about all she had today," Richards said, having seen himself drop from second to sixth between sessions, "They were all reasonable laps, but the car was lacking a bit of front grip. We hadn't made any significant alterations since yesterday, but track conditions had changed. We've had about 5mm of rain overnight, which washed rubber off the track and affected the way the car handles."
The two Kelly brothers both made the top ten shoot-out, and will share row four, while Paul Dumbrell and Shane van Gisbergen completed the leading group. Another rookie, Michael Caruso, might not have made the final phase, but still put the Valvoline Cummins Holden into twelfth.
![Mark Winterbottom - Ford Performance Racing [Pic credit: Ford/Edge Photographics]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/417039.jpg)
