V8SUPERCARS : KIWI FRONT ROW LOCK OUT FOR RACE ONE

Thursday 14 March 2013 20:00
By: V8 Supercars

New Zealanders Fabian Coulthard and Shane van Gisbergen will start the opening leg of the MSS Security V8 Supercars Challenge tomorrow.

Coulthard claimed pole position with a lap time of 1m 55.6682 seconds with Brad Jones Racing team mate Jason Bright setting the second fastest time of 1m 56.0173 seconds with Tekno Autosports' Shane van Gisbergen setting a 1m 56.0444 lap.

Despite qualifying second, Bright will be forced to start from fourth position after being served with a two spot grid penalty for completing a lap after the chequered flag in practice one.

As a result, third placed qualifier van Gisbergen will move to the front row of the grid while Lowndes will start third alongside Bright.

Jamie Whincup and Ford's David Reynolds will occupy the third row with Jonathon Webb and Scott McLaughlin starting seventh and eighth.

Pepsi Max Crew drivers Will Davison and Mark Winterbottom round out the top ten.

Coulthard described the qualifying session as a dream run

"It was unbelievable," Coulthard said.

"I had a clean run. I never really saw another car."

Bright admits he was disappointed not to be starting on the front row after a strong qualifying result but a mistake in practice one cost him.

"I didn't see the flag because I was looking at my dash," Bright said.

"It would have been nice to have both the BJR cars on the front row.

"We've both been getting good starts lately so a drag race into turn one would have been interesting," he added.

Race one of the MSS Security V8 Supercars Challenge will commence at 11:00 AEDT tomorrow and will be broadcast as part of the Formula One coverage on One HD from 12:00 AEDT (check your local guide).