Winterbottom fastest

Ford driver Mark Winterbottom has won provisional pole position for Sunday's Bathurst 1000.

Winterbottom clocked the fastest lap in Friday's qualifying and is well placed to win a second consecutive pole position in Saturday's top-10 shootout.

"Today, it was good to get the time right at the end and build the suspense a little bit," Winterbottom said.

"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."

Winterbottom was well placed to win the 2007 Bathurst 1000, but failed to finish the race off in style when a heavy shower crossed the track and caused many drivers to falter.

But the 27-year-old is determined to put last year's failure behind him and win the biggest event on the V8 Supercar calendar.

"I'm over what happened last year but back then it was burning pretty badly," Winterbottom said.

"There's highs and lows in motorsport but qualifying pole today is a high."

Sprint Gas Racing duo Jason Richards and Greg Murphy finished the day with the second fastest time and are keen to build on the performance in Saturday's shootout.

"We are so fired up, it's been a sensational day," Richards said.

"The Sprint Gas Commodore feels amazing; it is so good, easy to drive and definitely the highlight of the year."

"It's well balanced and fast. It actually encourages you to go faster."

Ford's Jamie Whincup was third fastest in his Ford, while James Courtney and Garth Tander rounded out the top five.