Gold Coast 600: McLaughlin on pole, van Gisbergen disqualified

Running third last, McLaughlin starred in the single-lap dash, beating his regular qualifying time with a 1m10.374s.

That helped him jump both Jamie Whincup and David Reynolds, who couldn't match McLaughlin's time, before provisional polesitter van Gisbergen took himself out of the running by jumping a kerb at the Beach Chicane and having his time wiped.

That means McLaughlin will start today's 300-kilometre race from pole, while van Gisbergen will start way back in ninth.

“I felt we could have done it in that first qualifying and just didn’t put the lap together, but to do it in the Shootout is fantastic,” said McLaughlin.

“It’s a great prize, obviously, being on pole, but we need to do it in the race. We’ll give it a good hard crack.”

Despite losing nine spots thanks to the kerb strike, van Gisbergen was philosophical about the Shootout result.

“I just pushed too much. It’s a shame, the first sector I mucked up and was just trying to make it back,” he said.

“It makes it hard starting from 10th, but we’ll have a go. We’ll be right.”

Whincup and Reynolds will start second and third, van Gisbergen's disqualification meaning they matched their regular qualifying efforts despite being beaten by McLaughlin.

Fabian Coulthard will start on the outside of the second row, two spots better than qualifying thanks not just to van Gisbergen's drama, but James Courtney's kerb strike earlier in the Shootout.

Chaz Mostert, Michael Caruso, Nick Percat, and Cam Waters all made up two spots as well, while Courtney will join van Gisbergen on the fifth row after overstepping the mark in the chicane.

“They’re joking with all those hop things aren’t they?" said Courtney after being told he'd been disqualified.

"It just ruins it for everyone. There’s better systems.”

Cla	#	Driver	Car	Time	Gap
1	17	Alexandre Prémat Scott McLaughlin	Ford Falcon FG X	1'10.3743
2	1	Jamie Whincup Paul Dumbrell	Holden Commodore ZB	1'10.5831	0.2088
3	9	David Reynolds Luke Youlden	Holden Commodore ZB	1'10.5845	0.2102
4	12	Tony D'Alberto Fabian Coulthard	Ford Falcon FG X	1'10.7303	0.3560
5	55	Chaz Mostert James Moffat	Ford Falcon FG X	1'10.7851	0.4108
6	23	Michael Caruso Dean Fiore	Nissan Altima	1'10.8403	0.4660
7	8	Nick Percat Macauley Jones	Holden Commodore ZB	1'10.9715	0.5972
8	6	David Russell Cameron Waters	Ford Falcon FG X	1'11.3938	1.0195
9	25	Earl Bamber Shane van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore ZB
10	97	James Courtney Jack Perkins	Holden Commodore ZB