Defending series champion Shane van Gisbergen has again dominated, grabbing pole position for the Supercars season opener’s second 250km race in Adelaide on Sunday.

Still buzzing from his race one win on Saturday, Holden’s van Gisbergen clocked one minute, 19.75 seconds – 0.03 of a second faster than Ford’s Fabian Coulthard.

Coulthard’s teammate and fellow Kiwi Scott McLaughlin was third fastest in the top 10 shootout that determined the first five rows of the grid for Sunday’s 78-lap finale.

Van Gisbergen is the man to beat on the tough Adelaide street circuit after impressing in the opening 250 race, finishing almost 15 seconds ahead of Coulthard.

To boot, the big Kiwi clocked one minute, 19.29 seconds in Sunday’s opening session, breaking his own qualifying lap record set on Saturday by 0.28 of a second.

“It’s very cool,” van Gisbergen said.

“(But) Ford are certainly putting the pressure on.

“Three Kiwis up front, how good is that!”

The big casualty in the shootout was van Gisbergen’s teammate, six-time series champion Jamie Whincup.

After being second fastest in Sunday’s opening qualifying session, Whincup will start from 10th on the grid after his flying lap was sabotaged early by hopping the curb.

“It’s frustrating. We had improved the car heaps (from yesterday) but that’s the way it is,” Whincup said.

“Let’s see if I can make up some spots in the race.”

Race two starts at 3.50pm AEDT.

The first full-time female Supercars driver – Simona de Silvestro – and 16 year old Alex Rullo, the youngest ever to drive a touring car, will start from the rear of the 26-strong field.