Brodie Kostecki will start the first endurance race of the Supercars season from pole position after blitzing the field at The Bend 500.
Kostecki warned his Ford Mustang is on-song ahead of next month's Bathurst 1000 after the Dick Johnson Racing star took out Saturday's top-10 shootout.
The 2023 champion was the fifth driver to lay a solo lap at the South Australian track, and fired off an unbeatable time of one minute and 16.3756 seconds.
Kostecki will share the front row on Sunday with Grove Racing heavyweight Matt Payne, who was 0.0736 seconds slower.
Cam Waters was third fastest to lead a Tickford lockout of the second row with teammate Thomas Randle.
Series leader and Sprint Cup winner Broc Feeney qualified seventh, while defending champion Chaz Mostert failed to make the shootout and will start 11th.
Kostecki will be looking to claim back-to-back wins at The Bend 500, after claiming his sixth pole of the season.
He leads the field with seven race wins, but finished the Sprint Cup third behind Payne and Triple Eight's Feeney.
The 28-year-old claimed the inaugural South Australian endurance race last year with long-time co-driver Todd Hazelwood.
"That No.17 Ford Mustang was on-song then," Kostecki told Fox Sports.
Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood will start the AirTouch 500 at The Bend from @BoostAus Pole!!!#RepcoSC #Supercars pic.twitter.com/42cTzPe5NA
— Supercars (@supercars) September 12, 2026
"It's the fact that the team has a lot of confidence in me that I can put the lap down.
"What an awesome way to start our enduro campaign.
"I've got the best co-driver with me, and really excited to get stuck into the race tomorrow."
Anton De Pasquale claimed provisional pole earlier on Saturday, but the Team 18 driver couldn't replicate his form in the shootout.
He qualified fifth, sharing the third row with Payne's teammate Kai Allen.
The 26-strong field - which includes Supercars great Craig Lowndes in the Team 18 wildcard - will return to the track for Sunday's 500km race at 2.15pm (AEST).
THE BEND 500 TOP-10 SHOOTOUT RESULTS:
1. Brodie Kostecki (Dick Johnson Racing)
2. Matt Payne (Grove Racing)
3. Cam Waters (Tickford Racing)
4. Thomas Randle (Tickford)
5. Anton De Pasquale (Team 18)
6. Kai Allen (Grove)
7. Broc Feeney (Triple Eight Race Engineering)
8. Zach Bates (Matt Stone Racing)
9. Jobe Stewart (Erebus Motorsport)
10. Jayden Ojeda (PremiAir Racing)
