Having entered Saturday's new-format top 10 shootout on provisional pole, Mostert traded turns on top of the timesheet with fellow Audi driver Kelvin van der Linde.

Mostert saved his best shootout lap at Mount Panorama for last, peeling off a 2:02.4930.

Making it even more dramatic, he looked no chance of replacing van der Linde until he produced a blistering final sector. It was one of the fastest in Bathurst history.

He claimed pole by 0.0858 - the closest margin in 12 Hour history.

"Fun session, any time you get to drive a GT car around Bathurst is so much fun and obviously first time with the Audi," Mostert said.

"Just living my best life.

"Lap wise I didn't lose too much in the first or second sector, but I finally put the last sector together. In those conditions the car was fantastic."

When Mostert previously claimed pole in 2018 it was behind the wheel of a BMW, but the Supercars regular has shown just as much skill behind the wheel of the Coinspot Audi R8.

He was honoured to again hoist a trophy named after a man he has great respect for.

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"For me to win this twice, it's pretty special and to share it with these two guys [team-mates Fraser Ross, Liam Talbot] it's amazing. It's something that we should really pump up this award because you know, it's a pretty special one," he said.

"Allan was amazing down here in GT3 racing in Australia .. he was always so nice around the pits and everything and a great competitor."

Though van der Linde - who is sharing the #74 Audi with Bathurst's Brad Schumacher and French professional Nathanael Berthon - was narrowly pipped for pole, he praised Mostert's effort.

"It sucks to lose to Chaz, I'm not going to lie," he laughed.

"No look, jokes aside, great job to Chaz. Awesome lap and to see him in the Audi on the pace straight away, mega."

Placing third and fourth in the shootout to earn a spot on the second row of the grid were SunEngery Mercedes driver Jules Gounon and Audi's 21-year-old rising star Ricardo Feller.

While it still came down to one lap to decide pole, this year's top 10 shootout took on a different format to allow drivers enough time to get their tyres up to temperature.

Event organisers opted for a pair of 15-minute sessions for the shootout, with five cars running in each.

Those that ranked sixth to 10 after qualifying were first on track, with the second session featuring those in the top five.

Van der Linde admitted the change suited Audi.

"I think the Audi typically struggles with the front tyre heat, I think the Merc would've been a bit better had it been a one-lap shootout, so we benefitted from that," he said.

The changes to the shootout came on the back of a new qualifying system as well - it was based on an aggregate qualifying time of Am and Pro drivers.

Schumacher played a key role in seeing van der Linde qualify for the top 10 shootout.

While Mostert, who benefitted from a flyer from his amateur team-mate Talbot, Schumacher was also quick.

He was 0.584 seconds behind Talbot would've eclipsed his effort were it not for a red flag which came with six minutes remaining in his qualifying session.

Schumacher was on a flyer at the time - the red flag coming five seconds before he'd finished his lap.

"I was on to the pace quite quickly," he said.

"I had some unfortunate luck with the red flag on the final turn, I was on for a 2:05.4 I think, which would have put it to the top."

Still, Schumacher was happy with his efforts and delighted to watch on from the garage as his star South African team-mate qualified on the front row.

"It's all I could have hoped and dreamed for obviously as a Bathurstian. I live up here on Mount Panorama of course," he said.

"To sit here alongside legends like Kelvin and Nathanael, it's honestly such a privilege for me and starting on the front row is only backing up the strength of our team."

Perthville's Grant Denyer also did a job for his Wall Racing Team, his quickest lap helping Tony D'Alberto into the shootout. He put the car into ninth.

The first session of the shootout saw Supercars star Shane van Gisbergen setting the pace. He clocked a best lap time of 2:03.6381 in the #888 Mercedes.

Then came the 'fast five' and van Gisbergen's fastest time was soon replaced.

Mostert and van der Linde both dropped into the 2:02s, the duo switching turns at the top of the time sheet as the session unfolded.

With 90 seconds left van der Linde was on top, 0.0969 ahead of Mostert, but the Bathurst 1000 defending champion had time for one last lap.

He pushed hard - his final sector the clincher - to claim pole.

Sunday's race will begin in the dark at 5.15am.

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