The Zach Bates/Aaron Seton Matt Stone Racing Chevrolet Camaro. Image: InSyde Media
Bates set a 2:03.9376s for the fastest lap of Mount Panorama in the Gen3 era, beating Brodie Kostecki’s previous benchmark (2:04.0307s).
The first-year Supercars full-timer led a Chevrolet top three lockout with Anton De Pasquale second for Team 18 and Erebus Motorsport’s Cooper Murray in third.
Bates paid tribute to his mum, Alison Drower, who died of cancer before last year’s Bathurst 1000.
“Honestly, it’s incredible. I can’t believe it,” said Bates.
“It’s a credit to the whole crew behind me, the boys and girls have been working so hard.
“This is for my mum who passed last year.
“We’ve had a pretty average year, the whole family, so this is definitely a highlight.
“I’m super thankful.”
Chevrolet set the pace in the opening half of qualifying. Cooper Murray was quickest at the halfway point on a 2:04.1720s, two tenths ahead of Matt Stone Racing duo Zach Bates and Jack Le Brocq.
When the final runs began, it was Bates who led De Pasquale, Murray, Will Brown (Triple Eight) and Brodie Kostecki (Dick Johnson Racing).
Despite the cooling conditions, there was very little improvement in the closing minutes of the session.
Sixth through 10th failed to improve, led by David Reynolds (Team 18), Le Brocq, Jayden Ojeda (PremiAir Racing), Matt Payne (Grove Racing) and James Golding (Blanchard Racing Team).
Allen was only 11th and failed to improve. Feeney was 12th and also failed to improve. Mostert fell one place to 16th while Waters improved from 17th to 14th.
Other notable omissions from the shootout were Thomas Randle in 13th and Jobe Stewart in 17th.
Toyota failed to make the shootout on its first attempt. Brad Jones Racing driver Andre Heimgartner was only 15th and six tenths away from pole position.
The Top 10 Shootout gets underway at 5:05pm AEDT. Beforehand, Practice 5 will begin at 10:05am followed by 1:10pm AEDT.
Results: Repco Supercars Championship Repco Bathurst 1000, Qualifying
Pos
Num
Driver
Team
Car
Lap
Diff
Gap
1
10
Zach Bates
Matt Stone Racing
Chev Camaro ZL1
2:03.9376
2
18
Anton De Pasquale
Team 18
Chev Camaro ZL1
2:04.0538
0.1162
0.1162
3
99
Cooper Murray
Erebus Motorsport
Chev Camaro ZL1
2:04.1720
0.2344
0.1182
4
888
William Brown
Triple Eight Race Engineering
Ford Mustang GT
2:04.2799
0.3423
0.1079
5
17
Brodie Kostecki
Dick Johnson Racing
Ford Mustang GT
2:04.3381
0.4005
0.0582
6
48
David Reynolds
Team 18
Chev Camaro ZL1
2:04.3386
0.401
0.0005
7
4
Jack Le Brocq
Matt Stone Racing
Chev Camaro ZL1
2:04.3443
0.4067
0.0057
8
31
Jayden Ojeda
PremiAir Racing
Chev Camaro ZL1
2:04.3564
0.4188
0.0121
9
19
Matthew Payne
Grove Racing
Ford Mustang GT
2:04.3825
0.4449
0.0261
10
7
James Golding
Blanchard Racing Team
Ford Mustang GT
2:04.4991
0.5615
0.1166
11
26
Kai Allen
Grove Racing
Ford Mustang GT
2:04.5180
0.5804
0.0189
12
88
Broc Feeney
Triple Eight Race Engineering
Ford Mustang GT
2:04.5241
0.5865
0.0061
13
55
Thomas Randle
Tickford Racing
Ford Mustang GT
2:04.5363
0.5987
0.0122
14
6
Cameron Waters
Tickford Racing
Ford Mustang GT
2:04.5443
0.6067
0.008
15
8
Andre Heimgartner
Brad Jones Racing
Toyota GR Supra A90
2:04.5566
0.619
0.0123
16
1
Chaz Mostert
Walkinshaw TWG Racing
Toyota GR Supra A90
2:04.6817
0.7441
0.1251
17
9
Jobe Stewart
Erebus Motorsport
Chev Camaro ZL1
2:04.6923
0.7547
0.0106
18
3
Aaron Cameron
Blanchard Racing Team
Ford Mustang GT
2:04.9557
1.0181
0.2634
19
14
Cameron Hill
Brad Jones Racing
Toyota GR Supra A90
2:05.0040
1.0664
0.0483
20
96
Macauley Jones
Brad Jones Racing
Toyota GR Supra A90
2:05.0380
1.1004
0.034
21
34
Nathan Herne
Garry Rogers Motorsports
Chev Camaro ZL1
2:05.0675
1.1299
0.0295
22
15
Bayley Hall
Team 18
Chev Camaro ZL1
2:05.1155
1.1779
0.048
23
777
Declan Fraser
PremiAir Racing
Chev Camaro ZL1
2:05.1897
1.2521
0.0742
24
11
Jackson Walls
Triple Eight Race Engineering
Ford Mustang GT
2:05.6261
1.6885
0.4364