Supergrid: How the grid stacks up after Round 5

It should be no surprise that championship leader Will Brown has the best qualifying average through five rounds in 2024, even though he has one pole position.

After Round 5 in Darwin, which hosted Races 11 and 12 of the season, Brown has an average start position of 4.00, has started no lower than ninth, and has qualified on the front two rows eight times.

Supercars.com has created a 'Supergrid' to illustrate the 2024 qualifying pecking order, with the Supergrid created rom the average qualifying figures from the 12 races so far.

Behind Brown is teammate Broc Feeney, who along with Cam Waters, has three poles. However, both drivers' averages have been affected by wobbles throughout the season. Feeney qualified in the mid-pack in Taupō (13th) and Perth (12th), while Waters missed out in Bathurst (20th and 18th), Taupō (12th) and Darwin (19th).

Chaz Mostert split Brown and Feeney heading to Darwin, where a qualifying nightmare (22nd and 20th) saw his average drop from 4.00 to 6.83.

So, what of the rest of the field, and whose one-lap pace isn't matched by their championship position?

One-lap struggles

The three drivers whose qualifying rankings differ the most from their current championship positions are Nick Percat, James Golding and Will Davison.

Percat, Golding and Davison are fourth, fifth and seventh in the championship, but are buried in the mid-pack when it comes to the Supergrid.

Percat has nine top 10 finishes, but has started lower than 13th on seven occasions. Golding moved to fifth in the championship in Darwin, but his average qualifying position has him 13th on the Supergrid, eight positions worse off.

Andre Heimgartner and David Reynolds are 11th and 12th in the championship, but are 20th and 18th respectively in qualifying.

The flip-side

Matt Payne has two poles and is fifth on the Supergrid, but dropped to ninth in the championship in Darwin. After a strong start to the season, Payne's average qualifying position across Perth and Darwin is 12.00, and finished a race no higher than eighth.

Last year's Pole Champion Award winner, Brodie Kostecki, has qualified in the top six three times in six attempts since his comeback, but his podium in the Darwin finale was his first race finish in the top 10.

Golding's teammate Tim Slade is 11th on average in qualifying, but race results have eluded the veteran, who is 19th in the championship after Darwin. Slade has qualified in the top 10 in his last six attempts, but has been unable to convert to a top 10 in the races.

2024 Supergrid (Average qualifying position after Round 5)

*Hazelwood substituted for Kostecki at first two rounds

^Wildcard start in Darwin