> 2019 race winner heads list of Pole Shootout contenders
> Result: Qualifying 2
Absolute Racing’s #911 Porsche will go last in this afternoon’s Pirelli Pole Shootout after Matt Campbell topped a crash-marred Liqui-Molyt Bathurst 12 Hour qualifying session earlier today.
2019’s race winner avoided the carnage to post the weekend’s fastest time so far - 2m03.4336s - after two heavy accidents resulted in lengthy stoppages. A third right at the end of the second session brought Q2 to a premature end and prevented several drivers from improving.
An incredibly close second session contested solely by GT3 cars resulted in the top-18 being covered by just one second, while Bentley’s Jules Gounon just missed the cut despite lapping only 0.6s slower than Campbell.
Instead it was Triple Eight’s Shane van Gisbergen who snuck in on the bubble following late improvements from Marco Mapelli (Lamborghini) and Jake Dennis (Aston Martin).
Seven manufacturers also made it through to this afternoon’s one-lap dash, five of which - Porsche, Mercedes-AMG, Audi, Aston Martin and Lamborghini - are all full-season Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli entries.
Back at the front, Maro Engel came closest to denying Campbell after falling just 0.1s short, while Raffaele Marcielo gave GruppeM a chance to claim back-to-back pole positions at Bathurst.
Last year’s winning team, Earl Bamber Motorsport, are also in the Shootout courtesy of Laurens Vanthoor who finished 0.2s down on fellow Porsche factory driver Campbell.
But Aston Martin’s hopes of having two Vantages in the top-10 were scuppered when Marvin Kirchhoefer rolled after making heavy contact with the outside wall approaching McPhillamy Park. Sam Shahin and Tyler Everingham also walked away from heavy impacts at Skyline, while Dean Canto parked his Lamborghini on top of the same section’s tyre barrier.
This afternoon’s Pirelli Top-10 Shootout begins at 17:05 AEDT. Watch it live on the championship’s website and Facebook page as well as SRO’s GT World Youtube channel.