Drivers from the land of the long white cloud have left the V8 Supercars field choking on their exhaust fumes at Winton.

Led by an outstanding qualifying effort from Lockwood Racing’s Fabian Coulthard, New Zealanders have locked out the front row for Saturday’s two races.

Coulthard has broken the practice lap record in each of the three sessions this meet, which now sits at 1:19.65 – more than two seconds lower than when drivers arrived in Winton.

He’ll be joined on the front row by Holden driver Shane Van Gisbergen for race one, and Volvo sensation Scott McLaughlin during race two.

McLaughlin was just .15 of a second away from pinching a historic pole for the Swedish manufacturer since re-entering the V8s field, but Coulthard could not be denied with a sensational late run.

Coulthard couldn’t hide his excitement after looking at the timing charts.

“It takes a little bit to get me excited but that excited me,” he said.

“The grip out there is phenomenal.”

The Winton track came in for criticism on Friday when track sealant came off during the practice sessions, banking up on cars.

But the sheer speed on offer to cars who got their settings right suggests a tremendous weekend of racing ahead.

Saturday’s races also have the potential to shake up the drivers and constructors race, with Red Bull drivers well down the order.

While Craig Lowndes recorded fourth for race one, both he and Jamie Whincup bombed out in race two and will start from 23rd and 21st respectively.

Lowndes and Whincup both said the result showed how fickle motorsport can be.

“The second run we really didn’t change the car too much – it doesn’t take much to go from front to back,” he said.

“It is bizarre conditions out there but it’s the same for everyone,” Whincup said.

“We didn’t quite get it right today and we’ll pay the penalty.”

“If we’ve got pace in the race we’ll come through but that’s for us to work out in the truck later on.”