For the first time in history the single-lap dash for the Bathurst 1000 pole was called off after heavy rain soaked Mount Panorama.
Instead the first five rows of the grid will be determined by yesterday's qualifying session, sealing pole for Cam Waters and James Moffat.
While the cancellation cost the other drivers the opportunity to improve their starting positions, there was largely a positive reaction to the decision made by race officials.
Waters admitted that he felt he had only done “half a job” to secure pole position for the Great Race but felt the right call was made to cancel the shootout.
“I feel like I have kind of done half the job," said Waters. “Yesterday was great being quickest in the wet, it is obviously cool and you have the shootout to come but I respect the decision that was made. The shootout for me is one of the highlights of the year, getting into it and then putting it all on the line for a lap. I find that pretty exciting and I love it.
“The water on the track was crazy and it is not really down to safety, and the drivers do drive to the conditions, but it is more about the cars.
“In the shootout you put it all on the line and it is our egos driving it and if we end up in the fence and we tear the car up and then not be able to race, so that is probably the bigger issue for me.”
Lee Holdsworth was left gutted not to contest what is set to be his final Top 10 shootout of his career before he calls time on his full-time Supercars career at the end of the year.
“It is a little bit of an empty feeling for me, I really wanted to have a crack at my last Top 10 shootout and I didn’t get to do it, but as Cam said they [Supercars] made the right call,” said Holdsworth.
“The track was ridiculously bad with the rivers. It was looking like it was possible to run it at the start but when the next front rolled in it was back to being undriveable.
“Our cars would probably be aquaplaning in third gear so it wouldn’t have been that entertaining for people to watch anyway.”
Chaz Mostert, who will start from third on the grid, agreed with the call, but felt that if it had been a normal qualifying session with all 10 cars on track it could have gone ahead.
“The water on the track was a worry but the biggest thing for a Top 10 shootout is you just don’t have any tyre temp and these cars are quite sketchy in those conditions.
“If it was juts another qualifying, a 20-minute qualifying and all 10 cars were on track together we had time to build up to it.
“I thought Supercars did the right decision. For us 10 drivers to go out there on warm up lap with a cold car and ask us to do something special in those conditions and try, and beat each other we would have probably found half the the 10 in trouble, and the other five would have been sensible, and I would have been one of the five that wasn’t.
Shane van Gisbergen slipped from fourth to seventh due to the cancellation, thanks to a three-position penalty for hitting Macauley Jones in qualifying. However, he too said it was the right call.
"It would have been silly for the Top 10 Shootout to go ahead in these conditions and the right call was definitely made," said the Kiwi.
The Great Race is due to start at 11:15 local time on Sunday.
