Kiwi Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen has eased into the Bathurst 1000 top-10 shootout, with a chance to qualify on pole for Sunday's 'Great Race' at Mount Panorama.
But last year's winner snuck into the shootout field as seventh-fastest qualifier, as a flurry of late speedsters shunted him down the rankings.
Not so lucky was teammate and four-time Bathurst winner Jamie Whincup - driving his final qualifying before retirement - who was pipped into 11th, where he will now start on the grid.
Van Gisbergen set the early pace, clocking 2m 04.295s for the 6.213km circuit, and settled back to watch his challengers do their darnedest.
Will Brown, who won his first Supercars race at Sydney last month, proved the swiftest, recording 2m 03.898s with less than four minutes left in the session, but he didn't have the final say.
With just seconds remaining, Van Gisbergen still sat fourth, but was surpassed by Anton de Pasquale, Brodie Kostecki and Tim Slade during the final minute.
"It was a tough one," he admitted afterwards. "There aren't too many 888 cars in the top 10 - we're all battling a bit, so we need to have a think and get a bit quicker.
"The racecar felt pretty good, but in qualifying, we were just lacking that little bit. When you watch Will Brown's lap, he's obviously driving well, but his car looked really good.
"We need to get a bit better, but we're in the 10, so it's alright."
Slade's last-gasp effort into fourth nudged Whincup and co-driver Craig Lowndes out of the top 10 altogether for Saturday's shootout.
Kiwi Andre Heimgartner qualified 17th (2m 04.9394s) and compatriot Fabian Coulthard 20th (2m 05.147s).
Van Gisbergen has already sealed the 2021 Supercars championship, after the penultimate race at Sydney was rained off, but after his qualifying effort, he was also presented with Fans' Choice and Drivers' Driver of the Year trophies.
Join us at midday Sunday for live updates of the Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama
