V8s Supercar driver Fabian Coulthard has smashed fellow New Zealander Greg Murphy's famous Lap of the Gods qualifying time at Bathurst, with the fastest-ever time around Mount Panorama.
Fabian Coulthard rips around Mount Panorama Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Coulthard's time of two minutes 5.608 seconds beat not only Murphy's time from 2003 but also Friday's now-former record, set by defending Bathurst champion Mark Winterbottom.
The man they call "Frosty" had become the first driver to lap Bathurst in less than two minutes, six seconds, but Coulthard smashed that with a sublime drive to edge another New Zealander, fellow Holden Commodore driver Shane Van Gisbergen, who also went under the previously untouchable mark of two minutes, six seconds.
Another Holden driver, the Australian Dale Wood, was third, with Ford's Winterbottom fourth quickest.
Winterbottom had set a new record at Mount Panorama in the final session before qualifying, racing around Australia's most famous track in a time of 2:05.9011, becoming the first driver to lap Bathurst in less than two minutes, six seconds.
He also shaved nearly half a second off the time set by Ford Performance Racing stablemate David Reynolds in Thursday's last practice session.
Meanwhile, V8 Supercars championship leader Jamie Whincup will start Sunday's Bathurst 1000 from the back of the grid after crashing out during qualifying.
