Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin will start Friday’s night race at Perth from pole position after another dominant qualifying performance.

The New Zealander smashed the lap record at Barbagallo Raceway to post a 52.8141 second lap and claim his seventh pole position of the season.

McLaughlin is aiming to continue a four-race winning streak in Western Australia.

His qualifying display came after a build-up to the event marred by enforced changes to his Ford Mustang by officials after in-season testing revealed the car held an unfair aerodynamic edge over its Holden and Nissan rivals.

With team owner Roger Penske watching on trackside, McLaughlin will be joined on the front row of the grid by teammate and championship rival Fabian Coulthard after he qualified second with a 53.0265 second lap.

“We’re a proud team, we stick together and we’ll just keep pushing on,” McLaughlin told Fox Sports.

Coulthard, who heads into Friday’s 50-lap race 124 points behind his teammate, said the changes to Mustang weren’t affecting the team.

“Roll with the punches, that’s what you do and I think that’s the best way to answer back,” he said.

Holden’s Jamie Whincup recovered from a poor practice session on Friday morning to climb from 18th at the start of qualifying through the three 10-minute sessions and will start third.

Tickford Racing’s Chaz Mostert will start alongside Whincup on the second row of the grid.

Whincup’s teammate Shane Van Gisbergen will start from sixth, alongside Cameron Waters who also hauled himself through the full three qualifying sessions to get into the top 10.

Walkinshaw Andretti Racing pair James Courtney and Scott Pye will both have to start from 20th and 22nd on the grid after a disappointing qualifying display while veteran Mark Winterbottom (21st) is also starting from the back of the field.

Friday’s race, the second under lights in Supercars in 21 years after last year’s event at Sydney Motorsport Park, starts at 6.45pm (2045AEST).