Photo: Rhys Vandersyde/InSyde Media
De Pasquale set a 1:09.0770s in his Chevrolet Camaro to head the Triple Eight Ford Mustang of Broc Feeney at the end of 30 minutes.
“I really enjoy those sessions. It’s really similar to Bathurst in quali where you get a few goes at it, get to psych yourself up, and have a couple of changes,” said De Pasquale.
“Really enjoyable, rather than the knock-out and one-lap stuff.
“Really good. It’s always fun. Obviously very happy that we got some dry running here just to see what we’ve got. The car felt really good.”
Matt Payne bounced back from his engine trauma in Practice 2 to put the Grove Racing entry third fastest.
The top 10 was completed by Andre Heimgartner (Brad Jones Racing), Chaz Mostert (Walkinshaw TWG), Ryan Wood (Walkinshaw TWG), Will Brown (Triple Eight), Thomas Randle (Tickford Racing), Kai Allen (Grove Racing), and Cameron Waters (Tickford Racing).
The headline omission from the shootout was Dick Johnson Racing Brodie Kostecki in 11th.
Fellow Finals Series driver Jack Le Brocq (Matt Stone Racing) was only 17th.
“I made a little mistake on my last run through the last corner,” said Kostecki.
“I’m not even sure whether we would have made it in anyway. I’m just struggling in two corners.
“A little bit to work on but I know that the race car will be fine. Really difficult to qualify around here and it was just lacking a little bit of confidence going in.
“A little bit to work on for the race but I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
There remains a question mark over Brown, however. He was put under investigation for allegedly impeding Jack Le Brocq approaching the final turn.
Asked about the investigation, Brown replied: “I think there was something. I moved over and let him got but we’ll wait and see if it was too late.
“To be honest, I’m not too sure. I haven’t watched it back yet.
“A bit confusing. A lot of people had headlights on while not running [on a hot lap].
“I thought it was Waters behind me who was on a warming lap.
“I moved out of the road so we’ll have to have a look at it and see what happens.”
It was a messy session on the whole for Brown, who went down the escape road at the end of Main Beach Parade turning onto Breaker Street.
“I had a couple of average runs, just scrappy in the middle there,” said Brown.
“We had a really good run and then I locked up and went down the escape road on a really good lap.
“Even that last one I really ran down there. Lucky to get through. Should be all right.”
The Top 10 Shootout gets underway on Saturday at 12:35am AEST/local time.
Results: Repco Supercars Championship Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500, Qualifying Race 1
Pos
Num
Driver
Team
Car
Lap
Diff
Gap
1
18
Anton De Pasquale
Team 18
Chevrolet Camaro
1:09.0770
2
88
Broc Feeney
Triple Eight Race Engineering
Ford Mustang
1:09.1460
0.0690
0.0690
3
19
Matt Payne
Grove Racing
Ford Mustang
1:09.1514
0.0744
-0.0054
4
8
Andre Heimgartner
Brad Jones Racing
Toyota Supra
1:09.1641
0.0871
-0.0127
5
1
Chaz Mostert
Walkinshaw TWG Racing
Toyota Supra
1:09.1874
0.1104
-0.0233
6
2
Ryan Wood
Walkinshaw TWG Racing
Toyota Supra
1:09.2669
0.1899
-0.0795
7
888
Will Brown
Triple Eight Race Engineering
Ford Mustang
1:09.2855
0.2085
-0.0186
8
55
Thomas Randle
Tickford Racing
Ford Mustang
1:09.2946
0.2176
-0.0091
9
26
Kai Allen
Grove Racing
Ford Mustang
1:09.3683
0.2913
-0.0737
10
6
Cameron Waters
Tickford Racing
Ford Mustang
1:09.3764
0.2994
-0.0081
11
17
Brodie Kostecki
Dick Johnson Racing
Ford Mustang
1:09.4152
0.3382
-0.0388
12
7
James Golding
Blanchard Racing Team
Ford Mustang
1:09.4242
0.3472
-0.009
13
10
Zach Bates
Matt Stone Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
1:09.5247
0.4477
-0.1005
14
48
David Reynolds
Team 18
Chevrolet Camaro
1:09.5447
0.4677
-0.02
15
96
Macauley Jones
Brad Jones Racing
Toyota Supra
1:09.5802
0.5032
-0.0355
16
3
Aaron Cameron
Blanchard Racing Team
Ford Mustang
1:09.5950
0.518
-0.0148
17
4
Jack Le Brocq
Matt Stone Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
1:09.6893
0.6123
-0.0943
18
99
Jarrod Hughes
Erebus Motorsport
Chevrolet Camaro
1:09.6946
0.6176
-0.0053
19
14
Cameron Hill
Brad Jones Racing
Toyota Supra
1:09.7408
0.6638
-0.0462
20
36
Cooper Murray
PremiAir Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
1:09.8520
0.775
-0.1112
21
38
Rylan Gray
Dick Johnson Racing
Ford Mustang
1:09.8789
0.8019
-0.0269
22
9
Jobe Stewart
Erebus Motorsport
Chevrolet Camaro
1:10.0384
0.9614
-0.1595
23
31
Jayden Ojeda
PremiAir Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
1:10.1727
1.0957
-0.1343
24
11
Jackson Walls
Triple Eight Race Engineering
Ford Mustang
1:10.6609
1.5839
-0.4882