Whincup put his car on pole position for the Bathurst 1000.

Having been the quickest man in every session he had contested at Mount Panorama prior to the shootout, Whincup shaped as the man to beat in the battle for pole.

He lived up to that, but only just, as his lap time of 2:05.426 saw him nudge out Volvo driver Scott McLaughlin by 0.652.

In the end just half a second separated the top six cars in the shootout.

"I went out there knowing that I could get the top, so it was awesome to get there,” Whincup said.

“The car has been quick all week, the car did everything I needed it to today.

“There is a voodoo on getting pole at Bathurst, but it's great to be starting up the front and I hope Paul [Dumbrell] and I can shake the stigma of claiming pole around here.”

Despite narrowly missing pole, McLaughlin was delighted to start on the front row for the second year running.

“It was so close,” he said after clocking a 2:05.491.

“Doing this type of thing means everything to me.

“I would have loved to have gotten pole, but it was amazing to get to go across the top of the mountain like that.”

Contesting the shootout for the first time in his career, Chaz Mostert ranked third with a 2:05.526, while Fabian Coulthard (2:05.672) and Tim Slade (2:05.856) rounded out the top five.