After torrid rain caused chaos in a wild afternoon practice session at Bathurst, the qualifying session was set to be a horror show, only for the rain to lessen right on cue.

Nevertheless, the changing conditions delivered a thrilling session that locked in places 11 to 28 on the grid for Sunday’s Bathurst 1000 – with the Top 10 Shootout tomorrow to decide the remaining places.

Two-time Bathurst runner up Cam Waters claimed provisional pole with a stellar 2:23.616s ahead of the fellow Mustang of Lee Holdsworth by just 0.212s. Reigning Bathurst winner Chaz Mostert was third, just 0.0065s behind Holdsworth.

Reigning Supercars champion and current series leader Shane van Gisbergen was fourth, but has copped a three-place grid penalty after crashing with Macauley Jones on his final flying lap.

“We’re stoked. We just wanted to make sure we’re in the ten,” Waters said.

“We didn’t know if it was going to rain again and get slower. I was 100 per cent from the get go.”

His co-driver James Moffat said afterwards: “He drove fantastically well and so did everyone else. For there to be no red flag in those conditions, the guys definitely earnt their money this afternoon. It was one of those sessions where it wasn’t too bad to watch it from the garage.”

Perhaps the most impressive performance of the day was wildcard entrant Richie Stanaway, who finished fifth in his first Supercars appearance since 2019, using the Erebus/Boost Mobile built Commodore ZB. Theirs was the third Erebus car to make the Top 10 Shootout for this year.

Stanaway said: “Pretty happy with that. It’s my first time in the shootout here at Bathurst... I’m just super stoked for the whole team."

“It’s pretty special,” Erebus driver Will Brown said of the team’s triple success.

But in a stunning twist, seven-time Supercars winner Jamie Whincup, who became Team Principal at Triple Eight Race Engineering after retiring from full-time driving before this season, became the only co-driver to drive in qualifying - and managed just 14th.

Whincup took over duties from his full-time driver replacement, teenager Broc Feeney, but was a shock absence from the top 10.

QUALIFYING REPORT

It was set to be a nightmare qualifying.

The rain was pouring, while fog blanketed the top of The Mountain. Rivers of water streamed across the track, while there were large pools of standing water around the track.

As Mark Larkham said on Fox Sports: “We’ve been coming here since 1963. I reckon we’re gonna see one of the toughest sessions in the history of the Mountain. I think this is going to be extraordinarily tough.”

But the rain began to lighten right on cue for qualifying, with cars displacing huge amounts of the standing water from the track.

That saw the top end of the timesheets constantly shuffling as lap times fell.

With drivers desparately pushing the limits, there were a number of mistakes, with Thomas Randle’s two errors

For most of the session, Waters and reigning Bathurst winner Chaz Mostert traded blows – and top spot – again and again.

Series leader Shane van Gisbergen then managed barged between them to go second behind Mostert. Will Davison then went third ahead of Waters, before Waters hit back to snatch back third.

But Mostert continued to stretch his advantage in the lead.

Wildcard gun Richie Stanaway – back in Supercars for the first time since 2019 - was on for a comfortable top-10 lap but missed the final corner – Murray’s. After locking the rear tyres, he recovered with a flick-spin to continue onwards. And soon after, he charged into the top 10 with a sensational lap – albeit with a far more cautious approach to the final corner. His next lap pushed him up to a remarkable fifth!

Van Gisbergen was on a final flying lap – and set a purple first sector – before he came across Macauley Jones over the top of the mountain. Jones appeared not to see the series leader, who smashed into Jones’s right rear corner and barged him into the wall in a serious shunt.

An investigation by stewards is now underway, with a penalty possible.

Among the big names absent from the top 10 were Anton de Pasquale (11th), Feeney/Whincup (14th), and seven-time Bathurst winner Craig Lowndes in his wildcard entry (16th).

LEGEND’S STUNNING MOVE BACKFIRES

After retiring from full-time driving at the end of last season, four-time Bathurst winner Jamie Whincup became Team Principle at Triple Eight Race Engineering - and gave up his car to young gun Broc Feeney.

He is partnering Feeney for this weekend’s Bathurst 1000 - and pulled a late backflip by deciding to drive in qualifying instead of his youngster.

 

On Thursday night, Whincup emphatically declared that Feeney would be driving in qualifying: “Broc’s gonna. He’s the main driver.”

But Whincup outperformed Feeney in the horrible conditions in Practice 4 on Friday afternoon, and the team opted to hand the car to the veteran instead of the rookie gun.

“He’s one of the best wet-weather drivers in history and he was 4.1 seconds faster than Broc in that last session,” Mark Skaife said on Fox Sports.

Team Manager Mark Dutton said: “As you saw in P4, Broc was doing well initially but didn’t keep progressing so we didn’t want to over-pressure him.

“We’re the only people with the fortunate position of having a seven-time champion as a co-driver. So it’d be a silly move from us NOT to do it.”

Unfortunately, it backfired as Whincup managed only 14th.

FULL SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES AEDT)

FRIDAY

10.10am – 11.10am: Practice 3 (all drivers)

1pm-2pm: Supercars Practice 4 (all drivers)

4.15pm – 4.55pm: Qualifying

SATURDAY

10.20am – 11.20am: Practice 5 (co-drivers)

1pm – 2pm: Supercars Practice 6 (all drivers)

5.05pm: Top-10 Shootout

SUNDAY

8am – 8.20am: Supercars warm-up

8.40am – 9am: Drivers’ Parade

11.15am: Race start (161 laps)

The rain mercifully stayed away on Thursday, delivering what might be the fastest track conditions of the weekend in the afternoon co-driver session.

Teams got more dry running in the opening session on Friday morning, but the long-awaited wet weather hit hard shortly after the session concluded.

There were a host of incidents in the TGRA86 category, including five drivers losing the track at the Chase in one race.

SUPERCARS MAYHEM

And it didn’t take long for the wet weather to cause just as many problems for the Supercars stars, as rivers of water flowed across the track - causing 11 incidents and three red flags before the session was ended early.

Shane van Gisbergen emerged atop the field in a 2:30.292s, a second ahead of teammate James Whincup (co-driver for Broc Feeney) and his 2:31.296s.

“Conditions are diabolical out there at the moment on Mount Panorama,” Mark Skaife said on Fox Sports.

FRIDAY PRACTICE ONE REPORT

Will Davison has won his second practice session in as many days, the 2016 champion surging to the top by 0.199s in a dry practice run and making a statement ahead of the afternoon’s qualifying. He is partnered by older brother Alex for Dick Johnson Racing.

He said: “That’s two sessions down, we’re at the top,” but added: “We don’t look at that too much.”

“It’s really enjoyable. The track’s definitely not as good as it was yesterday.”

Two-time Bathurst runner-up Cameron Waters, who made a couple of minor errors in a tough Thursday practice, stormed through the final sector to move atop the Friday timesheets after 20 minutes with a 2:04.573s. That marker would stand for most of the session, before Waters improved further to 2:04.407s, which would end up good enough for second behind Davison.

Waters agreed track conditions were worse than Thursday, but said: “Our car wasn’t great yesterday ... we learned a bit overnight, and the car’s a lot better today.”

In a late flurry of barnstorming laps, Will Davison emerged atop the charts with a sizzling 2:04.208s in his Shell V-Power Mustang. Davison had topped Thursday morning’s practice with a 2:04.369s, with his consistency placing him as a serious contender for qualifying.

But there was more frustration for 2020 champion Shane van Gisbergen. His co-driver Garth Tander set the standards on Thursday, with Tander’s afternoon time of 2:04.135s the fastest of the day – and faster than any drivers' 2021 practice time.

“It was pretty dicey with the mixed conditions,” van Gisbergen said of his Thursday morning practice session, after slamming into the wall and narrowly avoiding a disastrous crash. He added he was ‘pretty pissed’ at himself for the error.

But van Gisbergen’s frustration continued on Friday, as he failed to ever link up a full hot lap.

Early in the session, he was on track for a forecast 2:04.3s lap until a final-corner brake lock-up ruined his lap. He was frustrated again later in the session with a dominant first sector before finding traffic in the middle third of the lap and forcing him to back off. He attempted another flying lap the following turn round the Mountain, and was again on track for one of the fastest times of the session – only to run wide at The Chase.

“I’m sick of this thing,” he moaned on radio, complaining about braking inconsistencies. His best time was only good enough for 10th.

His team principal, Supercars and Bathurst great Jamie Whincup, is co-driving for young gun Broc Feeney this time around, but showed he’s not lacking in pace after retiring from full-time driving after last season.

Whincup finished third in the Thursday afternoon session, and on Friday he declared he’s “as confident as ever” about his chances of glory come Sunday.

But after Thursday’s practice, he declared the van Gisbergen/Tander drive had the edge, saying: “I don’t think we’re as quick as the other car.”

Tim Slade’s Blanchard Racing Team Mustang also was left stranded in the pits after a problem during a brake change pit-stop. Having only been 14th quickest on Thursday, he responded by surging up to fourth late in the session in an impressive finish.

Fifth was Chaz Mostert, the reigning Bathurst champion, with a best time of 2:04.617s.

Another mechanical issue for Richie Stanaway cost them half an hour on track for the second straight day.

“It’s not ideal,” he said, “We probably need the laps more than anyone.”

YOUNG GUN’S ROLLERCOASTER 24 HOURS AFTER BUGGY OFFENCE

Just days before his 21st birthday, rising star Zak Best has summed up the highs and lows of Bathurst in a bizarre few hours.

On Thursday, Best and his team were both fined $3000 by stewards for a speed limit breach...on a golf buggy. A stewards report stated Best’s buggy was travelling at “excessive speed” during the track walk and with occupants not wearing seatbelts.

Best showed his speed with better result on Friday, surging to pole in the Dunlop Super2 series for Friday’s first race with a 2:05.563s.

Then things took another turn for the worse when Best went too hard through the exit of The Chase and slammed into the wall – while wearing the tyres he would use during the race. His Tickford Racing drive showed plenty of left-side damage.

He also ran wide at The Chase in the top-division Supercars drive in Friday’s first practice session, with Best set to race as co-driver for Tickford’s Thomas Randle in the Bathurst 1000.

RICCIARDO KEEN TO WATCH THE GREAT RACE

The Bathurst 1000 is the pinnacle of Australian motorsport, and even Formula One superstar Daniel Ricciardo has revealed he’ll be tuning in this weekend.

Speaking at an F1 press conference in Japan, he said: “I follow it in terms of I’ll definitely watch it — I’ll watch highlights — and try to track a little bit who’s looking quick and stuff like that … But it is a cool race.

“My folks are actually going out, so they’ll be there. I think it’s their first time, so I’m keen to speak to them over the course of the weekend and hear how the experience is going.

“But it is really cool. As a kid watching it you would put the whole day aside and watch the Bathurst 1000 and it was always an event — fond memories of that race, and hopefully it’s a good one this year.”