Holden’s James Courtney and Ford’s David Reynolds have claimed pole positions for the two V8 Supercars races in Darwin on Sunday.
After finishing third in Saturday’s controversial 120km race, Courtney was quickest in the opening qualifying session at the Hidden Valley circuit.
With just 20 seconds remaining, he clocked a best lap time of 1min 8.54sec to pip Mark Winterbottom by 0.09sec.
Winterbottom’s Ford teammate Will Davison and Holden’s Fabian Coulthard will start on the second row of the grid for race 18 of the championship starting at 1.15pm local time (1.45pm AEST).
Saturday’s winner Jamie Whincup, who angered rival teams when he was allowed to refill his ice box at late notice midway through the race, was fifth fastest.
In the second 15-minute qualifying session for the final 100km race of the weekend at 3.45pm local time (4.15pm AEST), Reynolds was fastest in a time of 1min 8.23sec.
After claiming pole for Saturday’s race and leading at the halftime break, Reynolds was nudged by Winterbottom in the fight for second spot and finished a disappointing 14th.
Craig Lowndes will join him on the front row with Courtney and Scott McLaughlin behind.
Whincup’s rivals will be itching to bank big points on Sunday to start reeling in the Red Bull Racing star, who has opened up a 239-point gap to second-placed Lowndes in the series standings.
The four-time champion’s victory on Saturday was his sixth of the past eight races after dominating rounds in Texas and Perth.