Bates snatches Bathurst 1000 pole position in thrilling top-10 shootout

Zach Bates, a Supercars rookie, has secured pole position for the Bathurst 1000, beating Brodie Kostecki's time in the top-10 shootout. Bates clocked a scorching lap of 2:04.2062 around Mount Panorama, edging out Kostecki by 0.285 seconds.

Bates, 22, had earlier become the first driver to dip below the 2:04 benchmark in the Gen3 era with a provisional pole time of 2:03.9376. This impressive performance makes him the third rookie to claim pole position at Bathurst, following Klaus Ludwig (1987) and Marcos Ambrose (2001).

Kostecki, who was seeking a fourth consecutive pole position, was among those who failed to better Bates' time. Other notable drivers, including Will Brown, David Reynolds, and Anton De Pasquale, also fell short.

De Pasquale will start from the second row alongside Cooper Murray, while series leader Matt Payne will begin from 10th. Despite this, Payne remains optimistic, having started from 18th en route to last year's wet-weather victory.

Reynolds, who is chasing a second Bathurst 1000 title, will start eighth. His qualifying session was nearly derailed by a family of ducks that crossed the track during practice, causing a sudden halt.

Defending Supercars champion Chaz Mostert was among the big names to miss out on the top-10 shootout and will start from 16th. Payne's teammate Kai Allen narrowly missed out in 11th, while title contender Broc Feeney was 12th.

The Bathurst 1000 will take place on Sunday, with the grid set as follows:

BATHURST 1000 TOP 10 SHOOTOUT RESULTS:

• 1. Zach Bates/Aaron Seton (No.10 Matt Stone Racing)
• 2. Brodie Kostecki/Todd Hazelwood (No.17 Dick Johnson Racing)
• 3. Anton De Pasquale/Lee Holdsworth (No.18 Team 18)
• 4. Cooper Murray/Lachie Dalton (No.99 Erebus Motorsport)
• 5. Jack Le Brocq/Harri Jones (No.4 Matt Stone Racing)
• 6. Will Brown/Scott Pye (No.888 Triple Eight Race Engineering)
• 7. Jayden Ojeda/David Russell (No.31 PremiAir Racing)
• 8. David Reynolds/James Courtney (No.48 Team 18)
• 9. James Golding/Richie Stanaway (No.7 Blanchard Racing Team)
• 10. Matt Payne/Will Davison (No.19 Grove Racing)