Best beats Wood to Race 1 pole by 0.01s

Zak Best has beaten Ryan Wood to ARMOR ALL Pole Position for the Dunlop Series opener in Perth by just 0.01s.

Anderson Motorsport driver Best stole a second straight pole from Wood in the closing seconds of an enthralling session.

The Super2 points leader will launch from P1 for the first race of the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint at 2:15pm local time/4:15pm AEST.

Best, Wood, Brad Vaughan and Lochie Dalton were covered by a scant 0.0677s.

It marks Best’s first Dunlop Series pole since Bathurst 2022, and his fourth career pole.

Eggleston Motorsport held sway after the first runs, with Cooper Murray, Kai Allen and Cameron Crick in first, second and fourth.

Best was third with Vaughan fifth, with Super3 pole-sitter Cameron McLeod holding sixth after the opening runs.

Murray’s 55.6676s was the marker to beat in the final runs, and Vaughan was first to knock off the #88 Eggleston Commodore.

Vaughan, the 2022 Super3 champion, jumped to the top with a 55.6013s, before Wood improved to a 55.5621s.

As the chequered flag unfurled, Best pulled a 55.5521s from nowhere to snatch pole away from the Walkinshaw Andretti United Kiwi.

The margin between Wood and Vaughan was just 0.0392s, with Vaughan 0.0185s ahead of Brad Jones Racing driver Dalton.

Murray didn’t improve and ended up fifth, with Blanchard Racing Team driver and Perth local Aaron Love sixth.

Allen was seventh ahead of Matt Chahda, who is celebrating 50 Super2 round starts.

Wood’s teammate Zach Bates was ninth, with Zane Morse rounding out the top 10 in his pink #11 Mustang.

Crick was 12th behind Image Racing’s Jay Hanson, who is third in the points standings.

McLeod, who claimed both Super3 poles in Newcastle, was 13th quickest overall, notably beating Jack Perkins and Jordyn Sinni.

Race 1 will be the first ever timed race in Super2 history, with the race scheduled to run for 40 minutes plus one lap.