Brodie Kostecki boosts Supercars points lead with fourth win of year
Erebus Motorsport’s Brodie Kostecki recovered from a poor start to take his fourth Supercars victory of the season in the opening encounter at The Bend.
Kostecki took pole position in the morning but bogged down as the lights went out, but made the most of clean air in the middle of the 20-lap race to get the overcut on Tickford Racing’s Thomas Randle.
Having staved off an attack from Randle and Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert after his stop, Kostecki then stretched his legs to take the win and increasehis championship lead as team-mate Will Brown retired.
Off the start, Randle got the better of polesitter Kostecki to seize the lead on the run into turn one, with Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert leaping three places to grab second and demoting Kostecki to third.
Behind, the Truck Assist Camaro of Jack Le Brocq tagged the back of a slow-starting Will Brown at the first corner, which in turn left the Erebus Motorsport Chevy in the middle of track. Le Brocq’s team-mate Cameron Hill then made contact with Jack Smith’s SCT Motorsport machine.
All three were eliminated on the spot, with the safety car deployed.
Randle led the restart to complete the first proper lap from Mostert, who came under pressure from Kostecki, while Shane van Gisbergen held onto fourth after getting the better of Cam Waters at the start.
Red Bull Ampol Racing’s Broc Feeney was the first of the leading runners to make his pit-stop on the fifth lap of 20, but the undercut did not pay off as planned, the #88 car finishing behind the sister Red Bull Camaro of Shane van Gisbergen at the flag.
At the front, Kostecki had caught back up onto the rear of Mostert and made a bold dive down the inside of the Mustang under braking for Turn 6 to grab second place.
Kostecki then piled the pressure onto the back of Randle and made his move for the lead down the inside of the penultimate corner. Randle saw him coming and gave the Erebus Chevy enough room before peeling into the pits along with Mostert.
The pair came back out just ahead of Feeney and began to pull away, but Kostecki’s clean air and strong lap-times brought him within the 40-second buffer needed to pit and rejoin in the lead, which he duly did.
Randle and Mostert initially kept up the chase behind on Kostecki’s first lap on cold tyres, but Mostert’s huge lunge down the inside of Randle at Turn 6 – and subsequent ushering onto the grass on exit – allowed Kostecki to edge clear.
Kostecki’s winning margin come the finish was a little under two seconds, with Randle having to fend off a late charge from team-mate Waters in the closing corners.
Behind, Van Gisbergen took fifth ahead of Feeney, while Matthew Payne was a strong seventh in the Grove Racing Mustang. James Courtney was eighth, picking up the five bonus points for setting the fastest lap, with Will Davison and Andre Heimgartner rounding out the top 10.
Race two at The Bend is scheduled to take place tomorrow at 12:50 local time (05:20 CEST).
