Mostert on pole as WAU locks out Perth front row

Walkinshaw Andretti United is in the box seat to snap its winless drought in Perth, with Chaz Mostert and Ryan Wood locking out the front row.

Mostert beat rookie Wood to Race 9 pole by 0.1411s in a thrilling Boost Mobile Qualifying session, with Mostert scoring his second pole of the season.

It was Mostert's fourth pole in Perth and first since 2016, with the two-time Bathurst winner eyeing his first victory since Adelaide 2022.

Cam Waters and championship leader Will Brown will share the second row, ahead of Broc Feeney and Cameron Hill. James Courtney was an impressive seventh for the Blanchard Racing Team, with Matt Payne, James Golding and 200-round starter Tim Slade rounding out the top 10.

Mostert hailed WAU’s recent decision to run a two-car test day, with the team hunting its first win since switching to the Blue Oval in 2023.

"The car has been really good since we hit the track this weekend," Mostert beamed.

"I'm probably more pumped for the team as a whole, to have Woody on the front row as well rewards the guys and girls at WAU.

"They've been working really hard during the off season, so to have two cars on the front row will be awesome in photos, but it will be even better if we do it in the race, and make it a better photo collage after the weekend."

Q1

Richie Stanaway set the early running with a 54.7677s, before Mostert (54.5993s) and Wood (54.6147s) made it a WAU one-two.

Mostert’s 54.5993s remained the benchmark, with Slade splitting the WAU Fords into second with a 54.6023s.

Payne improved at the death into seventh, with Waters, Brown and David Reynolds just ahead. Feeney, Will Davison and Anton De Pasquale rounded out the top 10.

Nick Percat snuck into Q2 ahead of Jaxon Evans by just 0.0176s, with local driver Aaron Love, seven-time Perth winner Mark Winterbottom and Macauley Jones eliminated.

Q2

Wood went fastest early with a 55.0056s ahead of Percat (55.0277s) and Brown (55.0491s), with the top eight drivers split by just 0.0958s.

Courtney jumped to the top with a 55.0007s before Waters (54.8831s) and Thomas Randle (54.9129s) made it a Tickford one-two.

Ahead of the final Q2 runs, Waters and Randle led Courtney, Wood, Andre Heimgartner, Percat, Brown, Mostert, Davison and Jack Le Brocq. Payne was 11th, Brodie Kostecki 12th, Feeney 18th, and De Pasquale 19th, with the top 20 covered by just 0.5209s.

Triple Eight swung the changes, and it worked — Feeney jumped to the top with a 54.4795s, with Brown second with a 54.6101s. James Golding split the Bulls, jumping from 17th to second with a 54.5782s.

All the while, Mostert had fallen to 15th, but improved to fifth with a 54.6636s. Stanaway missed out on a Q3 berth by 0.0061s behind Courtney, while Kostecki was 14th.

Both Shell V-Power Fords and Erebus Chevrolets missed a Q3 berth, with Stanaway, Davison, Percat, Kostecki, Heimgartner, De Pasquale, Randle, Le Brocq, Reynolds and Bryce Fullwood knocked out.

Q3

Wood set provisional pole with a 54.7543s ahead of Courtney (54.8405s) and Payne (55.0639s), before Waters jumped to third with a 55.0590s.

Hill ran an alternate strategy, and jumped to second with a 54.7989s. Payne, meanwhile, jumped out of the car in fifth on a 55.0639s.

As the seconds wound down, Mostert secured pole with a 54.5628s, with Brown jumping to second with a 54.7462s. However, Waters and Wood improved, dropping the points leader to fourth.

Supercars will return to the track on Saturday for the first 55-lap race of the weekend, Race 9, at 3:45pm AWST/5:45pm AEST.

International viewers can follow all the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint action on Superview. Tickets for the event are on sale now.