Vaughan soars to pole, heavy crash for Allen
Dunlop Series
3h
Brad Vaughan claims stunning pole position at Bathurst
Kai Allen has big crash at Reid Park late in session
Championship combatant Zach Bates has costly puncture
Brad Vaughan has smashed the field to claim pole position for this afternoon's Dunlop Series race at the Repco Bathurst 1000.
However, the attention at the end of the session was all on championship leader Kai Allen, who thumped the wall at Reid Park after losing the rear on his final run.
Eggleston Motorsport are now in a race against time to repair the car for the start of Race 9 at 3:20pm this afternoon, with a 126-point buffer over Zach Bates to protect.
However, Bates had dramas of his own in the session, blowing a right rear tyre on his final run, which left the Walkinshaw Andretti United Commodore buried in 13th on the grid.
The big winner could be Aaron Cameron, who entered the weekend third in points and 144 points behind Allen, could prove the big winner, having qualified in fifth.
However, Cameron nearly found the fence himself coming under the tree on his first run, having a big slide coming under the tree and barely missing the wall.
The session was delayed by 10 minutes after a lengthy clean up was required at McPhillamy Park following this morning's Heritage Revival race.
The already reduced field was further shrunk when Super3 debutant Bailey Sweeny failed to make the track with an engine drama, with Image Racing planning an engine change before this afternoon's race.
The first runs immediately saw the quickest times of the weekend, with Brad Vaughan the first to break into the 2:05s on a 2:05.9842s, before Jobe Stewart and Jarrod Hughes both usurped him.
Jobe Stewart was on top on a 2:05.7219s, just over two tenths clear of his Erebus stablemate Hughes.
Allen was the first to improve on the second run with a 2:05.6019s, with Rylan Gray and Cameron both setting times within a tenth of a second of the reigning champion.
Vaughan then lit up Mount Panorama with an extraordinary lap, setting a 2:04.7537s to put more than half a second on the chasing pack, which was headed by Stewart.
Gray and Lochie Dalton made it all three Tickford entries in the top four, with Cameron, Max Vidau, Hughes, Jordyn Sinni, Campbell Logan, and Reuben Goodall rounding out the top 10.
Thomas Maxwell claimed pole in Super3 on a 2:06.5876s, and will start alongside Bates in 12th outright.
Race 9 of the 2024 Dunlop Series begins at 3:20pm AEDT.
