Shane Van Gisbergen has maintained his stellar form in Townsville to fire his way to the front row for Saturday's race, just pipping Will Davison for pole position.
The Supercars championship leader opted for fresher new tyres for his top 10 shootout run after running second fastest in the morning qualifying session.
And it paid dividends after Davison sat on provisional pole briefly before the New Zealander roared home to secure his fourth pole of 2022 by four one thousandths of a second.
The Reid Park circuit is a track well known to van Gisbergen and his Triple Eight Racing team, with the Kiwi winning three of five races in Townsville last year and Triple Eight scoring 20 of the 34 race wins since 2009.
The 33-year-old said their decision to run green tyres paid off.
"We were one of the only guys on new tyres then so that helped us," van Gisbergen told Fox Sports.
"To be on the front row for this afternoon is a huge help."
Three hundredths of a second was all that separated the top-three drivers from Saturday's shootout with Cameron Waters registering a blistering lap on older, used tyres.
Waters will start from the second grid right behind van Gisbergen whom he beat twice on the way to two victories in Townsville last year.
He said the goal was to be third at least, but registering a quick time just behind the front pairing is ideal for the afternoon's 250km race.
"There's nothing in it," Waters said.
"We're up the pointy end and if I get a decent start I might be able to pick one or two off."
Race 19 at Townsville's Reid Park Circuit begins at 2.50pm.
Top Ten Shootout Results:
1. Shane Van Gisbergen 1:13.367
2. Will Davison +0.004
3. Cameron Waters +0.031
4. Andrew Heimgartner +0.265
5. Anton De Pasquale +0.343
6. Jack Le Brocq +0.464
7. Chaz Mostert +0.497
8. Broc Feeney +0.715
9. Tim Slade +0.868
10. Scott Pye +1.031
