Ford star Scott McLaughlin has continued his sparkling from, grabbing pole position for Saturday's 200km Supercars race with a record-breaking lap in Townsville.
The DJR Team Penske driver's time of one minute and 12.0731 seconds eclipsed Jamie Whincup's benchmark from last year.
McLaughlin's sizzling qualifying performance secured his eighth pole pole of the season as he put clear daylight between himself Holden's Whincup, who will start from second on the grid.
"It's the best place to start," McLaughlin said.
"I love qualifying and I always have, but I'm just lucky I've got a good car underneath me and a great team behind me.