At the halfway stage of qualifying, the top 20 cars were within a second of each other and a number of drivers who hadn’t featured in the previous four practices were at the top of the timing sheet.
With seven minutes to go, some big names were still to post a top-10 lap, including Broc Feeney, Chaz Mostert, Cam Waters and Kai Allen. At the chequered flag, none of the aforementioned fancied runners had improved and will miss out on the top-10 shootout.
A common thread through practice and qualifying was teams suffering brake issues and drivers not feeling 100% confident about being able to pull the car up at crucial moments. No one could pinpoint why there were problems with brake pad compounds, long pedals and having to bleed the brakes during qualifying.
Ryan Wood and co-driver Jaxon Evans, one of the favourite pairings for this weekend’s race, didn’t make qualifying as Wood had an altercation with the wall on the exit of Forrest’s Elbow during practice. As a result, he and Evans will start from the rear of the field.