The Ford young gun topped the charts in the qualifying session with a lap of one minute and 25.0415 seconds on the world class Bahrain International Circuit, to secure his fifth pole of the year.

He will be joined on the front row by Triple Eight Racing teammate Craig Lowndes, who clocked 1:25.0624 following his impressive performance in practice.

Whincup's closest championship rival and last year's Desert 400 winner Mark Winterbottom (1:25.5967) will start from ninth while Holden's reigning champion Garth Tander, the other man in the title race, qualified fifth fastest with a 1:25.4116.

Holden's Todd Kelly (1:25.1556) qualified third fastest with Jim Beam Racing's Steven Johnson (1:25.3974) in fourth.

Whincup holds a 75-point lead over Winterbottom in the championship with Tander a further 31 points behind with three rounds to go.

Top 10 in Qualifying for  Desert 400

1. Jamie Whincup (Ford) 1 minute 25.0415 seconds
2. Craig Lowndes (Ford) 1:25.0624
3. Todd Kelly (Holden) 1:25.1556
4. Steven Johnson (Ford) 1:25.3874
5. Garth Tander (Holden) 1:25.4116
6. Will Davison (Ford)1:25.4481
7. Russell Ingall (Holden) 1:25.4736
8. Steven Richards (Ford) 1:25.5114
9. Mark Winterbottom (Ford) 1:25.5967
10. James Courtney (Ford) 1:25.7556