Supercars rookie Zach Bates has upset the top order at the Bathurst 1000 after laying down a record lap around Mount Panorama to take provisional pole.
All eyes were on whether heavyweight Brodie Kostecki would continue his qualifying dominance en route to a historic fourth consecutive pole, but it was Matt Stone Racing youngster Bates who took out Friday's session.
The 22-year-old set an unbeatable lap time of two minutes and 3.9376 seconds in just his second attempt at claiming the holy grail of Australian motorsport.
He is the fastest driver in the Gen3 era and easily beat Kostecki's Bathurst 1000 qualifying record of 2:04.0307 seconds.
"It's incredible to get provisional pole," Bates said.
"Never thought during the weekend that it was going to be possible.
"Just trying my best, and yeah, here we are."
Bates' surprise success comes after his mother Alison Drower died from cancer weeks before his Bathurst 1000 debut last year, in which he finished 10th as part of the Triple Eight Race Engineering wildcard with the great Craig Lowndes.
Kostecki still has a chance of creating history after finishing fifth, with series leader Matt Payne ninth-fastest.
It is a welcome improvement in grid position for Payne from last year, when the 23-year-old pulled off a famous wet-weather victory with former co-driver Garth Tander after starting from 18th.
The 2024 Bathurst 1000 winner, Kostecki is already in rare air at Mount Panorama after claiming three straight pole positions last year to join icons Peter Brock and Allan Moffat as the only drivers to have achieved the feat.
The Australian motorsport category is marking 20 years since Brock's tragic death, with his former protege and great mate Lowndes part of the 26-strong grid.
While he resumes his successful partnership with co-driver Todd Hazelwood, Kostecki's highly-rated engineer George Commins is recovering from injuries after a mountain biking accident.
Rules prevent Commins or any personnel from contributing to the race offsite, leaving Dick Johnson Racing team manager Tom Moore to stand in as Kostecki's engineer.
Kostecki had been missing from the top of the practice sheets after struggling with a suspected power issue, with the team opting to switch the Ford Mustang engine before qualifying.
Grove Racing were also forced to make an engine change to Payne's Mustang for qualifying.
Drivers will return for the final two practice sessions of the weekend on Saturday, with the top-10 shootout to get underway at 7.05pm (NZT).
Payne's teammate Kai Allen fell agonisingly short in 11th, while title contender Broc Feeney was 12th ahead of Cam Waters in 13th.
Defending champion Chaz Mostert will start from 16th for the best qualifying result in the Toyota Supra.
Kostecki's rookie teammate Rylan Gray will start from the back row with Ryan Wood after the duo crashed out in separate incidents in Friday's first practice session.
Bathurst 1000 top 10 shootout:
1. Zach Bates/Aaron Seton (No.10 Matt Stone Racing)
2. Anton De Pasquale/Lee Holdsworth (No.18 Team 18)
3. Cooper Murray/Lachie Dalton (No.99 Erebus Motorsport)
4. Will Brown/Scott Pye (No.888 Triple Eight Race Engineering)
5. Brodie Kostecki/Todd Hazelwood (No.17 Dick Johnson Racing)
6. David Reynolds/James Courtney (No.48 Team 18)
7. Jack Le Brocq/Harri Jones (No.4 Matt Stone Racing)
8. Jayden Ojeda/David Russell (No.31 PremiAir Racing)
9. Matt Payne/Will Davison (No.19 Grove Racing)
10. James Golding/Richie Stanaway (No.7 Blanchard Racing Team)
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