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Mark Winterbottom is one step closer to exorcising his demons today after going fastest in the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 qualifying.

He and Ford Performance Racing team-mate Steve Richards dominated the iconic race last year in the Castrol FPR Falcon, but lost the lead in the closing stages when a rain shower caught Frosty out.

Winterbottom left it until the chequered flag to put in his fastest time in an extremely close V8 Supercar Championship Series qualifying session today, elevating him from fourth to 0.0413s ahead of second-placed Jason Richards.

FPR enduro driver Luke Youlden qualified 17th in the Orrcon Steel Ford Credit FPR Falcon just 0.9756 behind Winterbottom. The time, which was the third fastest of the none-regular drivers, would almost certainly have seen him start in the top ten at other rounds this year.

Tomorrow’s top ten shoot out starts at 15:40 and will determine who starts from pole position in Sunday's race.

Mark Winterbottom

Castrol FPR Falcon

“I’m over what happened last year but back then it was burning pretty badly. There’s highs and lows in motorsport but qualifying pole today is a high; I’m just lucky that Richo had me back as a team-mate!

“You have to respect this place. The first time you go out on greens it scares you but the more laps you do the better you get.

“Today, it was good to get the time right at the end and build the suspense a little bit! It was quite hard to do because I only had one last crack. The first two sectors weren’t that special but I got a good last sector and got the time.”

Steve Richards

Castrol FPR Falcon

“We’ve had to work a fair bit harder on it this year than last; right until that last segment we’ve been playing with the qualifying set up. We got it right at the right time so it all worked out but it’s been a bit tougher than it was last year for sure.”

Tim Edwards

Team Principal

“We weren’t expecting to be this quick in qualifying because we’ve got a car that’s going to be fantastic in the race but it’s taken more tuning than usual to find the right qualifying set-up.

“It’s going to be hard to get pole for the race in tomorrow’s shoot out; you’ve only got one shot at it with the world watching and that always provides a few upsets. Frosty’s definitely got the right temperament to deal with that though.”

Luke Youlden

Orrcon Steel Ford Credit FPR Falcon

“We’re pretty quick; +0.9s would normally see you start tenth but it’s testament to the category and how competitive it is that we’re in 17th. Another tenth or two would have put us right up there but finding that was a bit challenging!”

Supercheap Auto 1000 - 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Rd10

Mount Panorama - Bathurst

QUALIFYING

1.       Winterbottom, Castrol FPR Falcon, 2:07.1920

2.       J.Richards, Tasman, +0.0413

3.       Whincup, 888, +0.0779

4.       Courtney, SBR, +0.1052

5.       Tander, HRT, +0.1725

6.       R.Kelly, TWR, +0.2481

17. Youlden, Orrcon Steel Ford Credit FPR Falcon, +0.9756