Motorsport: Tickford's Cameron Waters pips Kiwi Scott McLaughlin for Bathurst 1000 pole position

Tickford flyer Cameron Waters has pipped Kiwi Scott McLaughlin to pole for Sunday's annual Bathurst 1000. 

All eyes were on the heavens before the 10-car shootout for top spot, with heavy rain forecast, but despite an ominous black cloud, the session was dry.

Waters has been a pacesetter all week in his Monster Mustang and made that form count with the fastest lap ever seen in a Bathurst Top-10 Shootout.

His 2m 03.5592s left him 0.4429s clear of the defending race champion and shattered Chaz Mostert's lap record set in 2019.

"Man, I’m so pumped," says Waters. "That was absolutely awesome, so much fun.

"I made a bit of a mistake at 'The Dipper', but who cares, I had fun doing that!

"I knew the markers I had to hit, and just went and did it. I knew we’d go a fair bit quicker than practice and I gave it everything.

"This is so special for all the boys at Tickford, they’ve worked so hard over this whole period they’ve been away.

"This [cheque] will go towards beers on Sunday night, no matter how we go."

McLaughlin is "stoked" with his lap and he will be a major threat for the 161-lap race on Sunday, alongside teammate Tim Slade.

Fellow Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen was on track for pole, until he made two minor mistakes in the final sector, and will start fifth.

"It wasn’t a good lap, I stuffed it up," he says. "We have a fast car, I just needed to get it right."

Motorsport: Tickford's Cameron Waters pips Kiwi Scott McLaughlin for Bathurst 1000 pole position

Jamie Whincup will start 10th, after going off the track at Caltex Chase, and he laments a couple of key setup decisions the team made ahead of the one-lap sprint.

"We potentially underestimated the wind," he says. "There was a bit of a tailwind down Conrod and I reckon that’s what caught us both out.

"There are big straights here, so we had the cars trimmed right out and with a bit of a tailwind, you’re heading into 'The Chase' pretty quick.

"I'm disappointed with myself. I feel like I let the team down a little bit today, so I need to make up for it tomorrow."

Kiwi Fabian Coulthard qualified eighth in the second DJR-Team Penske Mustang.

Will Davison and Cam Waters
Will Davison and Cam Waters Photo credit: Getty
Scott McLaughlin in action
Scott McLaughlin in action Photo credit: Getty

Bathurst 1000 Starting Grid 

1.Cam Waters/Will Davison

2.Scott McLaughlin/Tim Slade

3.Chaz Mostert/Warren Luff

4.Nick Percat/Thomas Randle

5.Shane van Gisbergen/Garth Tander

6.Lee Holdsworth/Michael Caruso 

7.Anton de Pasquale/Brodie Kostecki

8.Fabian Coulthard/Tony D'Alberto

9.James Courtney/Broc Feeney

10.Jamie Whincup/Craig Lowndes 

11.Bryce Fullwood/Kurt Kostecki 

12.Scott Pye/Dean Fiore

13.David Reynolds/Will Brown 

14.Andre Heimgartner/Dylan O'Keeffe

15.Jack Le Brocq/James Moffat 

16.Todd Hazlewood/Jordon Boys

17.Macauley Jones/Tim Blanchard 

18.Mark Winterbottom/James Golding 

19.Rick Kelly/Dale Wood

20.Alex Davison/ Jono Webb

21.Gary Jacobson/David Russell

22.Jack Smith/Jack Perkins

23.Chris Pither/Steve Owen

24.Tyler Everngham/Jayden Ojeda

25.Jake Kostecki/Zane Goddard  

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