Oriol Servià, driving a car for PKV this weekend, nipped local hero Will Power on Friday, snagging the provisional pole position by .033 seconds and locking in a front row starting spot for Sunday's race.

Power got revenge on Saturday when he broke the Surfers Paradise track record in winning his fourth pole position of the season by .372 seconds.

Power's day ended for good on lap 19 when he clouted Katherine Legge while trying to pass her, leaving him with a broken car and a very sore wrist.

Paul Tracy (who spun on lap 1), Bruno Junqueira (who had stalled on the grid), and Robert Doornbos (who had a lousy qualifying) stayed out rather than pit.

With first and second places pretty much decided, an interesting battle was shaping up between alternate strategy runners Tracy and Junqueira for the final podium spot.