After two days of sun-drenched perfection, Mount Panorama’s unpredictable weather may turn bad for Saturday’s top 10 shootout for pole position for the Bathurst 1000.

An afternoon thunderstorm and up to five millimetres of rain are forecast for Saturday, with the rain expected to strike shortly before the start of the shootout at 4.30pm (AEST).

A sudden downpour could play havoc with the make-up of the first five rows of the grid for Sunday’s 1000km V8 Supercars race but Ford star Mark Winterbottom was taking a pragmatic approach to the forecast.

With more sunshine expected for Saturday’s final morning practice run, Winterbottom said the only approach to take was to drive to the current conditions rather than try to anticipate a change.

“You have to go with what’s current and try to chase the conditions,” said Winterbottom, who was third fastest in Friday’s qualifying session.

Holden’s Jamie Whincup will be the last car out in the one-lap shootout for Sunday’s pole after qualifying fastest on Friday with New Zealander Fabian Coulthard the second quickest.

Winterbottom’s teammate Will Davison, race favourite Craig Lowndes and defending champion Garth Tander all safely qualified for the top 10 with Shane Van Gisbergen, Tim Slade, Steve Owen and David Reynolds the other drivers who’ll feature.

Saturday’s action begins with practice from 10.25am (AEST).