By alley - Oct 10, 2014, 1:45 AM ET

V8 Supercars: Coulthard leads Bathurst qualifying

Fabian Coulthard topped V8 Supercars' Friday qualifying for the Bathurst 1000 in a session characterized by red flags for shunts.

Mark Winterbottom looked to have the best pace throughout the session, setting the quickest time before the final 20 minutes. An early crash into the wall from

Thursday practice pacesetter David Reynolds

10 minutes in brought the first red flag out, with another following for a surprise accident for championship leader Jamie Whincup. Those interruptions allowed Winterbottom to maintain an early lead.

Shane van Gisbergen ousted Winterbottom's time by going just 0.03 seconds quicker with six minutes remaining, before a storming lap from Coulthard allowed him to go half a second faster and set the quickest time of the session in his Brad Jones Holden.

Van Gisbergen looked like he might have missed out on the top 10 prior to the lap that took his Tekno Holden to second, ahead of the late charging Dale Wood in the Britek Commodore.

Early pacesetter Winterbottom finished fourth and top Ford, with Scott McLaughlin in fifth for Volvo.

Jason Bright added to a good session for the Commodores in sixth, despite running onto the grass toward the end of the session, a feat replicated by seventh placed Jack Perkins.

Garth Tander and Craig Lowndes rounded out the top 10 going into Saturday's pole shootout.

The newly resurfaced track's lack of grip shook up the established order for V8 Supercars' biggest race, with many of the regular frontrunners, including James Courtney and Chaz Mostert, unable to break into the top 10.

Whincup's trip into the wall leaves him and co-driver Paul Dumbrell with a lot of work to do on race day, when they will start 25th, having struggled with grip all weekend.

FRIDAY QUALIFYING TIMES:

Pos	Driver	Team	Car	Time	Gap
1	Fabian Coulthard	Lockwood Racing	Holden	2m 05.6080s	-
2	Shane van Gisbergen	Team TEKNO V.I.P. Petfoods	Holden	2m 05.7011s	0.0931s
3	Dale Wood	Team ADVAM/GB	Holden	2m 06.2391s	0.6311s
4	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Pepsi Max Crew	Ford	2m 06.2556s	0.6476s
5	Scott McLaughlin	Valvoline Racing GRM	Volvo	2m 06.3358s	0.7278s
6	Jason Bright	Team BOC	Holden	2m 06.4769s	0.8689s
7	Jack Perkins	Team JELD-WEN	Ford	2m 06.5347s	0.9267s
8	James Moffat	Norton Hornets	Nissan	2m 06.6088s	1.0008s
9	Garth Tander	Holden Racing Team	Holden	2m 06.6195s	1.0115s
10	Craig Lowndes	Red Bull Racing Australia	Holden	2m 06.7069s	1.0989s
11	James Courtney	Holden Racing Team	Holden	2m 06.7150s	1.1070s
12	Nick Percat	Walkinshaw Racing	Holden	2m 06.7451s	1.1371s
13	Todd Kelly	Jack Daniel's Racing	Nissan	2m 06.8090s	1.2010s
14	Chaz Mostert	Ford Pepsi Max Crew	Ford	2m 06.8385s	1.2305s
15	Michael Caruso	Norton Hornets	Nissan	2m 06.8898s	1.2818s
16	Rick Kelly	Jack Daniel's Racing	Nissan	2m 06.8902s	1.2822s
17	Scott Pye	Wilson Security Racing	Ford	2m 07.2720s	1.6640s
18	Will Davison	Erebus Motorsport	Mercedes	2m 07.4989s	1.8909s
19	Lee Holdsworth	Erebus Motorsport	Mercedes	2m 07.5463s	1.9383s
20	Russell Ingall	Repair Management Australia Racing	Holden	2m 07.5760s	1.9680s
21	Tim Slade	Supercheap Auto Racing	Holden	2m 07.8996s	2.2916s
22	Robert Dahlgren	Valvoline Racing GRM	Volvo	2m 08.2603s	2.6523s
23	David Wall	Wilson Security Racing	Ford	2m 08.3854s	2.7774s
24	Ant Pedersen	Super Black Racing	Ford	2m 08.4896s	2.8816s
25	Jamie Whincup	Red Bull Racing Australia	Holden	2m 19.5136s	13.9056s
26	David Reynolds	The Bottle-O Racing Team	Ford	3m 48.1345s	1m 42.5265s