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Ford driver Steven Johnson has secured a surprise pole position for Sunday's 59-lap race at the Hamilton 400 V8 Supercars event.
Johnson clocked one minute, 24.1606 seconds to finish ahead of teammate James Courtney and claim his first pole since Canberra in 2001 in an action-packed 20-minute all-in qualifying session.
Ford Performance Racing driver Steven Richards bounced back from a disappointing Saturday to clock the third fastest time while reigning V8 Supercars champion Jamie Whincup will start fourth in the race.
But it could have been so much better for Whincup, who was on course to better Johnson's time when a red flag was issued seconds before he crossed the start/finish line.
The flag was out because Holden driver Tim Slade had crashed his car front on at turn seven, putting his chances of making Sunday's race in doubt with just two hours between qualifying and the race start.
That red flag meant Whincup's time was not recorded and ended the session two minutes and 36 seconds early, with marshalls unable to clear the track in time for a restart.
Whincup's teammate Craig Lowndes will be eighth on the grid ahead of Kiwi driver Fabian Coulthard, with Richard's teammate Mark Winterbottom 10th.
Last year's winner in Hamilton, Garth Tander, continued a disappointing weekend and will start the race in 19th position while his teammate Will Davison is further back in 22nd spot.
