15 May 2015 | General

QUALIFYING: CAN HOLDEN FINALLY GRAB POLE?

THERE IS a very good chance that history could be made this morning at Winton Motor Raceway.

As the ENZED Touring Car Masters field readies for qualifying this morning fans of the Holden lion will have their fingers crossed that John Bowe – for years their arch rival – can grab pole position for the Rare Spares Rose City Trophy here at Winton.

Why? That’s simple – a Holden has never scored pole position in qualifying for a Touring Car Masters round. Never!

That’s right.. the Red Army will be hoping that one of their most bitter rivals over the years will be able to get them onto the top spot for the very first time in nine seasons of TCM racing.

Bowe is the king of TCM Qualifying and has scored 35 pole positions – the next best on the pole winners list is Jim Richards with nine.

He set the fastest time in practice yesterday to put the Holden Torana SL/R 5000 he’s driving for the first time this weekend to the top of the charts – a place he hopes it remains after the 20-minute session today.

Of course it may not be JB doing the job either. Jason Gomersall’s iSeek Racing Holden has been very quick all weekend while local hero Brett Youlden has been on the money too in his HQ – though the odds are against those pair given Bowe’s incredible record.

Ford have locked out the top spot in TCM qualifying for a remarkable stretch that dates all the way back to April 2013 – 15 rounds ago – when Michael Almond grabbed pole in his Porsche 911.

Jim Richards’ pole in his AMC Javelin at Sandown in 2012 – a day before the car was destroyed in a monster crash – and a shock Greg Keene pole at the Muscle Car Masters the round prior were the last to crash the ford pole run prior to Almond’s mighty effort.

You have to go back all the way to 2011 to find the last time a General Motors product was on pole – Andrew Miedecke getting the last of his two pole positions that season at Sandown that November.

Bowe Richards Miedecke Glenn Seton – who has two pole positions to his credit – and Gavin Bullas are the only drivers to have scored a TCM pole to be racing this weekend.

And while Richards (2012) and Miedecke (2011) have to think back a long time for their last time on top of the grid you have to feel for Gavin Bullas – his last pole was at the Clipsal 500.. back in 2009.

So regardless of who scores pole today there’ll be some celebrating – there’s plenty to play for in what should be a fun 20-minute shootout this morning!

Make sure you’re tuned in to FOX Motorsports (Channel 506) for all the action.

TCM POLES (DRIVERS):

John Bowe – 35
Jim Richards – 9
Gavin Bullas – 6
Keith Kassulke – 2
Andrew Miedecke – 2
Glenn Seton – 2
Steve Mason – 2
Steve Johnson – 1
Michael Almond – 1
Greg Keene – 1

TCM POLES (BRANDS)

FORD MUSTANG – 34 (’69 TransAm / ‘69 Boss)
CHEVROLET – 12 (’69 Camaro)
FORD FALCON – 12 (’64 Sprint – 8 ’74 XB Coupe – 3 ’72 GTHO – 1)
PORSCHE – 2 (911 RS)
AMC – 1 (Javelin)