The Tickford Racing star clocked a 2:05.5980 lap in the first of two top 10 shootouts for the Bathurst 500 event, handling the testing conditions better than any of his rivals.

While the top seven drivers from the qualifying session earlier in the morning all posted times in the 2:04s, the grip levels had dropped by the time it came to put down a one-lap flier in the shootout.

Waters, who was eighth out on track, watched his rivals, learned from them and planned where he could make time.

"It's an amazing way to start 2021 obviously. I watched Chazy [Mostert] when he did his lap and saw him spray it at turn one and pour dirt all over the track," Waters said.

"So for me it was all about you know get through one and see what grip you had. After that, you know up the hill I knew I was down a bit, I just really couldn't make a mistake.

"Over the top and down the hill, that's where I made up all my time.

"I was making sure I wasn't going to lock a brake at The Dipper, not like I did last year."

Last year, as Waters referenced, he had a nervous moment at The Dipper during the top 10 shootout for the Bathurst 1000.

However, his time of 2:03.5592 was 0.4429 seconds faster than any of his rivals. It was also the fastest lap in history in a Supercar around Mount Panorama.

He said the set up for his Mustang for the season opening Bathurst 500 has its similarities to that package he ran in the 2020 finale at the Mount.

"There's definitely parts that are similar for sure, you can finesses it a little bit for the track conditions here this weekend, obviously it's a lot different to the 1000 where you have seven hours of practice before qualifying," Waters, who now boasts six career poles, said.

Starting alongside Waters on the front of the grid for the first of two 250 kilometre races is Team Cool Drive's Tim Slade. He clocked a 2:05.7050.

"What a start," he said.

"It's been an awesome weekend up to this point, the guys have done just a phenomenal amount of work in such a short period of time. We didn't have an employee basically until the start of November and no workshop, nothing."

Team 18's Mark Winterbottom, who was chasing the 37^th pole positions of his Supercars career, was first out on track for the shootout.

He ran a little wide on the right-hander at The Esses which cost him time and he stopped the clock in 2:06.5672.

"It's really average," he said of the track conditions.

"I've never been here for qualifying at 9am when the sun's not even out and the track's really quick. To go from that to following the Touring Car Masters and nothing on track for quite a while, UV is through the roof, it was slippery.

"You start your lap in the shootout full of hope and you go through turn one and you're down two-tenths and the thing's wobbling, she's a long ole lap after that."

Jamie Whincup fared better in his Red Bull Ampol Racing Commodore with a 2:06.1164, but his bid to claim the 89^th pole position of his career came up short.

"I don't know if going earlier in the shootout is a good thing or not ... but I'm happy with that," Whincup said after his lap.

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Team 18's second driver in the shootout, Scott Pye, misjudged turn two and finished with a 2:06.9479 but the fourth man out on track for his one-lap flier, Will Davison, executed better. The Shell V-Power Racing driver did a 2:06.0079 which was enough to put him fifth on the grid.

"I tried to have a dip, just tried to weight it up, you know clearly we could see the track has lot some grip," Davison said.

"You don't want to leave anything on the table so I touched the wall out on two and got a little bit untidy in a couple of spots, but all-in-all we've made great progression."

Erebus rookie Brodie Kostecki, appearing in his first Supercars' shootout, did his lap in 2:06.1814 which means he will go from eighth on the grid in the opening 250km race this afternoon.

The first man into the 2:05s was Slade, a man who has returned to a full-time drive this season. He did a 2:05.7050 to earn himself a spot on the front row.

After being the fastest man on track on Friday, Chaz Mostert was the seventh out in the shootout. With four green tyres on his Walkinshaw Andretti United Commodore he struggled for grip early.

Though he made up time in his middle sector and "had a dip", he could only manage a 2:06.449.

The defending Bathurst 1000 champion Shane van Gisbergen did a 2:05.7608, having lost two-tenths coming of of Forrest's Elbow. It means he will start race one from position three.

Starting alongside him in the second row of the grid will be Anton De Pasquale. Last man on track in the shootout, he pushed hard in his Shell V-Power racing Mustang but lost time with a mistake on the exit of McPhillamy.

He finished with a 2:05.7793.