Bright claimed provisional pole position ahead of the top-ten shootout with a time three-tenths faster than nearest competitor and championship leader, Ambrose.

The Holden Racing Team pair of Mark Skaife and Todd Kelly lamented their relative lack of engine power compared to Bright.

The former HRT driver brushed off these comments, suggesting that, "...they are not as bad as they are making out, they just don't have the power advantage they want or have had in the past,".

Murphy clamoured into the shootout too, although like his TWR counterparts, suggested that his car didn't have the pace to properly compete with Bright.

Skaife's pole position was hoped to be a return to form after a torrid first two rounds of the championship for the five-time champion.

Controversy arose as the officials decided that, due to flooding of the track, the first race of the weekend would be postponed to Sunday instead of its originally scheduled Saturday afternoon slot.

Despite the obvious disappointment for the attending crowd, drivers and officials generally agreed that the decision to postpone the race was the right one.

Tony Longhurst encountered his own problems after being forced off on the entry to the hairpin; having to use the tracks perimeter to avoid being stuck in the gravel trap.

Dumbrell's efforts on the slick tyres were curtailed after straying offline, t-boning Jason Bargwanna and putting them both into a spin at turn two.

At the end of the first lap, Radisich strayed wide at the top of Ford Mountain, spun at the mid-point of the main straight, and narrowly missed being broadsided by multiple cars.

On lap 9, Skaife retired due to a bent steering arm that he sustained whilst racing Max Wilson, who also retreated to the pitlane with ignition coil issues.

Warren Luff speared off into the gravel trap at turn three when attempting to avoid a spinning Mark Porter.

Just moments later, Glenn Seton spun at a perilous position on the approach to Ford Mountain whilst trying to avoid a commotion between the two Larkham Motorsport cars.

Bright withstood the charge from Murphy to take victory, delivering on the pace shown in practice and qualifying.

While the popularity of V8 Supercars in New Zealand enticed officials to explore the possibility of a second championship round in the region, the status of Pukekohe's place on the calendar was up in the air.