It was held on the weekend of 26 to 28 April at the Eastern Creek Raceway, New South Wales Australia.

Despite rule changes introduced the round prior in an attempt to aid those who had to undertake pre-qualifying, the system was still universally unpopular with the teams and drivers.

Series veteran John Faulkner stunned the paddock by qualifying in fourth place after years of struggling with budget and equipment.

Lowndes qualified outside the top 10 whilst the Dick Johnson Racing Falcon's struggled, with their inexplicable lack of pace leaving them in the mid-pack as they attempted to find a solution.

Skaife meanwhile set the benchmark, with a time nearly half a second faster than the rest of the pack, to take provisional pole position.