Supercars championship leader, Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen, won't be on pole for Sunday's Bathurst 1000 after being penalised for an incident in Friday's qualifying session.
After a collision with Brad Jones Racing's Macauley Jones in the late stages on Friday, van Gisbergen and co-driver Garth Tander have been hit with a three-place grid penalty, which will be applied after Saturday's Top 10 Shootout session.
The Kiwi was found to be at fault for the incident, trying to get around Jones, and has been penalised as a result.
"Following a DRD Investigation and an admission by Car 97, Shane van Gisbergen, of a breach of Schedule B2, Article 2.1.1 (Careless Driving) for the incident involving contact with Car 96, Macauley Jones, at Turn 13," read the stewards report.
"The Stewards imposed a 3 Grid Spot penalty in Race 30 for Car 97, Shane van Gisbergen/Garth Tander."
Van Gisbergen, 33, put in the fourth fastest time in Friday's qualifying, seeing him through to the Top 10 Shootout as the seventh driver in order.
However, the penalty means no matter the result, van Gisbergen will start Sunday's Bathurst 1000 no higher than fourth, and possibly as low as 13th.
Van Gisbergen has been on pole at Bathurst just once before, coming in 2014, but finished 16th.
However, van Gisbergen's one past Bathurst win, came in 2020 when he qualified fourth.
The Top 10 Shootout will be staged at 7:05pm (NZ time) on Saturday.
Van Gisbergen leads the Supercars Championship by 525 points heading into Sunday's race and is odds-on to win his third title, after also being Australasia's best driver in 2016 and 2021.
