Chaz Mostert scored his second consecutive pole position in TCR Australia in a shortened Qualifying session at Bathurst.
Mostert recorded an impressive progression of four consecutive fastest laps at the wheel of his Audi RS 3 LMS, clocking 2:25.0525 on his second lap and then improving to 2:19.1395, 2:18.0123 and 2:16.0769.
Jordan Cox seemed able to challenge Mostert for the pole and posted a 2:18.2816 on his third lap, then he was clocked at 1:31.0978 at the end of the second sector in his fourth lap, a time that was half-a-second faster than Mostert’s, but the Garry Rogers Motorsport driver went off the track at the Chase and his Alfa Romeo Giulietta remained stranded on the gravel. This prompted the red flag with ten minutes still to go, but the 25-minute session was not resumed.
Just before the red flag was waved, Aaron Cameron and Garth Tander moved up into second and third, demoting Cox to fourth ahead of Jay Hanson.
Tilton Racing’s Brad Shiels was the best of the Hyundai drivers in sixth position, while Tony D’Alberto of Wall Racing qualified his Honda Civic in eighth.
Mostert’s teammate Luke King and Lee Holdsworth in the second Alfa Romeo run by Ashley Seward Motorsport, who are currently second and third in the standings behind Mostert, ranked in tenth and seventh positions respectively.
Race 1 will start at 10:40 local time (01:40 CEST); live streaming at www.tcr-series.com.
Bathurst - Qualifying
2:16.0769 Chaz Mostert (Melbourne Performance Centre, Audi RS 3 LMS)
2:17.0310 Aaron Cameron (Team Valvoline GRM, Peugeot 308)
2:18.1895 Garth Tander (Melbourne Performance Centre, Audi RS 3 LMS)
2:18.2816 Jordan Cox (Garry Rogers Motorsport, Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce)
2:18.4192 Jay Hanson (Ashley Seward Motorsport, Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce)
Championship points
1. Chaz Mostert 214 pts; 2. Luke King 197; 3. Lee Holdsworth 187
Picture: TCR Australia