Bathurst defending champion Reynolds pips Whincup in top 10 shootout
In one of the tightest Bathurst 1000 shootouts of all-time, defending champion David Reynolds has edged Jamie Whincup by nine thousands of a second to win pole at Mount Panorama.
And in a stunning boilover, Erebus Motorsport teammate Anton de Pasquale will line up alongside Shane van Gisbergen on the second row after producing a drive beyond his rookie season.
De Pasquale scorched the track and might have produced an even quicker time except for a final turn slip.
His time of two minutes 4.3498 seconds stood through the shootout — even after van Gisbergen, Scott McLaughlin and Craig Lowndes took to the track — until Reynolds broke through.
Reynolds produced a 2:04.0589 time before provisional polesitter Jamie Whincup took to the track for the day's final lap.
Whincup started slowly but made up ground on the final sector, missing out on top spot by the smallest margin.
"I'm ecstatic. My young teammate did a pretty amazing time so I couldn't let him beat me," Reynolds said.
"He did a [2:04.]43 and I was like, 'I don't know if I could actually do that'."
Reynolds' win puts him in the frame to become the first driver to defend the Peter Brock trophy since Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup in 2008.
"I was on the ragged edge, locking brakes here and there," he said.
"My car is really really good at the bottom of the hill. We just need to work on across the top a little bit."
AAP
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