Motorsport: Ford firing on all cylinders at Hamilton 400

Mark 'Frosty' Winterbottom during qualifying at Hamilton today. Photo / Getty Images

The New Zealand contingent were left out of the business end of qualifying for today's opening race of the Hamilton round of the V8 Supercar Championship, with none making the top-10 shoot-out.

Ford dominated an all-Australian battle for the leading grid positions for the Hamilton 400's first 200km contest on the 3.4km street circuit.

The Blue Oval marque claimed the top three spots, with Mark Winterbottom getting pole in a time of 1min 23.8053sec.

Winterbottom finished just 0.0007s ahead of reigning V8 series champion Jamie Whincup, while Steven Johnson completed Ford's sweep.

Holden filled the next three places through Michael Caruso, defending Hamilton champion Garth Tander and Lee Holdsworth.

The best of the New Zealanders was teenager Shane Van Gisbergen, whose Ford will start 11th on the grid.

Greg Murphy, four-time winner of the New Zealand round when it was held at Pukekohe, will start 17th and fellow Holden driver Jason Richard 20th.

Richards, second fastest in practice yesterday, provided a spectacular moment in the second leg of qualifying.

He produced a two-wheeler after hitting the tyre bundles on the chicane and narrowly missed the concrete wall as his car came back on the track.

The tyre bundles, which slow the speed of the cars by making them go through rather than over the revamped chicane, have proved to be controversial.

They were in place for two of the practice sessions yesterday but, in a move hailed by Richards, were taken out for the final session, allowing drivers to power over the double turn.

However, after some drivers expressed safety concerns, officials last night decided to reinstate the tyre bundles.

The two other New Zealanders in the 30-strong field, Fabian Coulthard and Steven Richards, both missed the cut after the first qualifying leg, and will start 21st and 22nd.

- NZPA