Defending Champion Garth Tander produced a Houdini act to recover from near-disaster to qualify in the top 10 for Sunday's SuperCheap Auto Bathurst 1000 at Mt Panorama.
Tander slewed off the track into a tyre wall during today's official qualifying but managed to extricate the car and nurse it back to the pits. Some speedy work by his crew allowed the Holden Racing Team driver to return in the vital 40 minute session where he produced two slick laps to ensure a spot in tomorrow's Top-10 Shootout and a realistic chance to defend his Bathurst title.
Three-time Bathurst Champion Jamie Whincup led qualifiers with his Team Vodafone Holden clocking 2:07.3565 ahead of Lockwood Racing's Fabian Coulthard and Will Davison (Trading Post Racing) who was third ahead of Ford Performance Racing teammate Mark Winterbottom (Orrcon Steel).
It was also a major turnaround for Coulthard, who rolled his car in a spectacular practice session crash at Bathurst two years ago. He dedicated his effort to fellow kiwi, the late Jason Richards, who achieved so much for Brad Racing Racing at Mt Panorama.
Tander was thanking his lucky stars after a malfunction saw him in the wall. Had they not fixed the car he would have almost certainly started from way back in the pack and recent history shows the winner rarely comes from beyond 10th on the grid.
"I had a lock-up going into turn two. We had new rotors on the front and they grabbed the front tyre and wouldn't unlock," Tander said.
"I was a passenger into the wall. I dug myself out. The boys did a fantastic job to get it back into shape and pumped out two 2:08.1s. To end up eighth and not too far from off the fastest time I was pleasantly surprised to be honest with you."
Whincup reiterated that he believes Tander, who has won at Mt Panorama in 2009 and 2011, remains a firm favourite along with his TeamVodafone teammate Craig Lowndes, the five-time Bathurst champion, who was fifth fastest in qualifying.
An emotional Coulthard enjoyed his first top-three finish in qualifying at Mt Panorama.
"Any time you do a 2:07 around this place is quick. There were only three of us to achieve it out of 28 blokes so I am pretty happy. I was pretty pumped when I crossed the finish line that I had done a good lap and good enough not only to make the shootout but finish in the top three," Coulthard said.
He said Richards, who died from cancer last year, was a key driver for both him and the team this week.
"It would be unreal to have a big race in memory of Jason. On our track walk Jason Bright's engineer, who was my engineer earlier in the season, placed the JR star on top of the mountain. It was quite a touching moment really. He was a huge part of BJR (Brad Jones Racing) and we remember him day by day, and no more place than here at Mt Panorama.
"My track history here has not been that flash. But one of the biggest confidence boosts for me is that these BJR cars are a proven and known quantity on this track."
Tomorrow features a 50 minute practice session ahead of the Top-10 Shootout late in the afternoon, which coincides with a forecasted thunderstorm to hit the area.