KEY POINTS:
If practice yesterday is anything to go by, qualifying at Pukekohe today should be very interesting.
Many of the V8 Supercar teams have new cars, and as a result a new aerodynamic package. This, with the new tyre compounds, meant a lot of the teams had to find
new set-ups for the cars, and the drivers had to find new or different braking marks.
A number of drivers went off at various places around the circuit.
Tasman Motorsport's Jason Richards hit the wall on the exit to the back straight, but did only cosmetic damage. Craig Lowndes, Mark Skaife and Mark Winterbottom all had excursions on to the grass at the hairpin.
But it was Jack Perkins in the Jack Daniels car that had the biggest off. Cresting the hill on to the front straight, the car got a bit light and the rear came round and he reversed into the wall at speed. There's a lot of panel damage and the team are checking the chassis to see if it was damaged.
Holden driver Todd Kelly claimed the honours posting a time of 55.77s, just ahead of the Ford of James Courtney (55.84s). Hot on their heels was another Ford, that of Mark Winterbottom who did 55.86s.
Kelly reckons he could have been quicker in last year's car. "With the VE at the moment, in a lot of areas we're maxed out. There's not really anywhere to explore. There are a lot of young Ford blokes who are quick."
Six Fords are in the top 10 after yesterday.
Holden driver and crowd favourite Greg Murphy had trouble with his handling and he languishes in 23rd place with a 56.77s.
Just over a second blankets the top 25 drivers with New Zealanders Paul Radisich in 20th, Richards in 13th and Fabian Coulthard in 19th.
Craig Baird was the fastest Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge championship qualifier followed by Jody Vincent, half a second back, and Nick Gordon a mere fraction behind in third.
Defending champion Kayne Scott put in a scorcher of a lap (1m 1.38s) to take pole position for the seventh and final round of this season's NZV8s Championship. This is Scott's fourth pole position of the season.
Angus Fogg, just 0.312s behind him, would have taken second sloton the grid except but for an additional engine which puts the Ford driveron the back row.
Current championship leader John McIntyre will line up beside Scott.
Former NZV8 champions Andy Booth and Paul Pedersen take third and fourth position respectively; the top four an evenly matched Holden-Ford combination.
Toyota Racing Series driver Shane Van Gisbergen qualified on pole position for the second time this season, with experienced campaigner Andy Knight joining him on the front row. Earl Bamber was third fastest in this his debut season.
Only 0.824s separates the top 10 drivers in the Mini Challenge series, with Brent Collins on pole, followed by Kevin Cantwell and Eddie Bell.