Championship leader Will Brown has secured back-to-back Sandown 500 pole positions and pipped challenger Cam Waters on Saturday.
Brown beat Waters to pole by just 0.0647s in a thrilling Shootout at Sandown, with Anton De Pasquale a surprise third in the one-lap dash after jumping from 10th.
De Pasquale’s rise was made even more impressive by the fact he almost put his Shell Ford into the wall to start his hot lap.
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“I thought he would be 10th straight away!” Fox Motorsport’s Mark Skaife praised.
“It was remarkable (De Pasquale’s recovery).”
Brodie Kostecki, Broc Feeney – who was last man out, and Chaz Mostert claimed the remainder of the top three rows.
That left Richie Stanaway, Andre Heimgartner, Matt Payne and Ryan Wood to round out the 10 – with Wood dropping out of contention when he hit the dirt through Turn 9.
An ecstatic Brown said he was raring to go alongside teammate Scott Pye in Sunday’s race after claiming his first pole position since Bathurst back in February,
“I knew it would just be who didn’t stuff up out there, so I was just trying not to screw it up,” Brown said.
“I just put a clean lap together and I’m stoked to get the Boost Mobile Pole Award.
“I’m just ecstatic, it’s been a tough round for us the last couple – we got podiums, but I really wanted to get another pole position and try and win this weekend.
“It was tough, between (corner) one and two there was a lot of water on the road, and even this last sector down here, there was a lot of water to try and finish your lap.
“Every time I went in there I just thought: ‘Don’t stuff it up here, don’t stuff it up’ and maximise where it wasn’t wet.”
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Waters too was pleased he’d be starting from the front row.
“Pretty weird conditions out here with all the rivers and the dirt!” he said.
“It was a bit of a lucky dip – I didn’t really know what to expect!
“I’m pretty happy with where we’re at.”
De Pasquale could only laugh after his horror lap start as he proved the big winner of the shootout.
“I nearly spun starting my lap – don’t think I’ve ever done that before!” he said.
“Super slippery!
“To end up third to start the big race … it’s exciting.
“I honestly don’t think I’ve ever started a 500. I might have started one – I’ll have to dig through the memory books (laughs).”
The 161-lap race will commence at 2:05pm AEST on Sunday. The race will be broadcast live on Foxtel (Fox Sports 506) and streamed on Kayo.
Source Agencies
