The reigning champion and early series leader charted a new qualifying lap record of 1:53.8280 at Albert Park in the first qualifying session on Thursday.

The 25-year-old was slower, but still first, in a second rapid-fire session shortly after to give him the best chance of extending his run of race wins beyond his lockout at the Adelaide 500.

The Mustangs reigned supreme in Melbourne, with four of the fastest five cars in both qualifying sessions bearing the galloping horse on the grill.

McLaughlin will be joined by teammate Fabian Coulthard on the front row of the grid for Friday's first race, with Tickford's Cam Waters and 23Red driver Will Davison on the second row.

Shane van Gisbergen was the only Holden in the top five for race one; his Red Bull HRT teammate Jamie Whincup is the only Commodore among the leaders in race two.

With just a short 10-minute qualifying window, the main drama in session one revolved around Chaz Mostert.

Mostert was the fastest car outside of the dominant DJR Team Penske Mustangs through practice but fell foul of strict line markings in qualifying, nullifying his hot lap.

The Tickford ace quickly pitted and was the only man on the circuit attempting a second flying lap, only to turn wide at the first corner to chart 22nd.

Coulthard made the same mistake in the second session, scraping a fifth position with just seconds remaining.

Such was the pace of the Mustang, leading Commodore driver Nick Percat took a not-so-subtle dig of how to bridge the gap between the two makes.

"We'll see if we can challenge the Mustangs. We might have to change the body shape to catch them," he said.

"We probably could have been quickest Holden but nothing on what the Penske car did."

Australian Associated Press