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Bathurst legend misses shootout

Retiring Supercars legend Jamie Whincup has missed out on the Bathurst 1000 top-10 shootout after a dramatic first qualifying session.

Rookie Will Brown, who won his maiden Supercars race in Sydney last month, snatched provisional pole after pipping stars Anton De Pasquale and Chaz Mostert.

The top-three all produced scorching best laps under two minutes and four seconds in a quick session at Mount Panorama yesterday.

But Whincup will not take part in today’s top-10 shootout after finishing 11th, with Tim Slade knocking the Red Bull Ampol great out in the dying stages.

It is just the fourth time the seven-time Supercars champion has finished outside the top-10 in qualifying for the Bathurst 1000 during his glittering career.

Tomorrow’s Great Race will be Whincup’s farewell as a full-time driver before he takes over as Triple Eight boss from Roland Dane.

Whincup is again teamed up with fellow Supercars great Craig Lowndes, with the pair famously claiming a Bathurst three-peat between 2006 and 2008.

‘‘Not ideal at all,’’ the seven-time champion said after qualifying.

‘‘It won’t change our approach, we’ll still continue to do what we do.

‘‘We’ve got a quick race car so we’ll see what Sunday throws at us.’’

Whincup and struggling former Bathurst 1000 winner David Reynolds were the only true big guns to be knocked out of qualifying and start the 161-lap race outside the

top-10.

Erebus’ Brown edged out stars Shell V-Power’s De Pasquale and Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Mostert in a major turn-up.

The 23-year-old has marked himself as a rising star in recent weeks and this will be his first Bathurst 1000 as the main driver.

Brown has been a co-driver the previous three years, with his best result 15th when Reynolds was in the main seat last year.

But the Commodore driver is stepping up on the big stage and he could not contain his excitement after the result.

‘‘I said to (race engineer) Tommy (Moore) I grew some big balls out there and had a dip,’’

Brown said. ‘‘It’s bloody awesome, how good was that.

‘‘I’m happy that I’m bloody P1 after that.

‘‘Obviously it’s tight up there, but I’m happy I’m on the right side of the seven-hundredths.’’

Defending champion Shane Van Gisbergen — with star co-driver Garth Tander — will again be hard to beat and is building his pace nicely.

Supercars’ champion-elect provisionally qualified seventh but will get a chance to improve his grid position during the shootout.

There will be two more practice sessions before the shootout gets underway at 7.05 pm (NZT) today.

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2021-12-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-12-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/282518661784967

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