Fabian Coulthard grabbed a sensational pole position for the first race at round two of the V8 SuperTourer championship at Ruapuna Park this afternoon.
Coulthard, deputising for an injured Greg Murphy, was the only driver to dip below 1 minute 24 seconds in challenging track conditions.
Wind and dust from earlier track demonstrations prevented quicker times from being achievable until late in the qualifying session, but Coulthard put in two laps good enough for pole.
Ford driver Jonny Reid's last flying lap ended with a spin at turn one, but he was closest to the flying Coulthard's M3 racing Commodore with a 1.24.054 lap. Fellow Ford man John McIntyre's best of 1.24.362 was good enough for third.
"For the minimal laps we have had it's obviously been a pretty good day," Coulthard said. "It's also clear these guys have built a pretty good car, too. I'm definitely pleased to break the 1 minute 24 barrier, conditions were changeable and beating the times we had achieved this morning was a challenge."
