Brodie Kostecki grabs stunning Bathurst pole
A stunning lap from Brodie Kostecki ensured that Erebus Motorsport will start the Bathurst 1000 from pole after the Supercars Championship points leader topped the times in the top ten shootout at Mount Panorama.
Kostecki had been the quickest driver in qualifying on Friday to secure his place in the shootout and the honour of being the final driver to run on track in the fight for pole position.
With a target to aim for, Kostecki seemed to have ruined his chances when he dipped a wheel off the circuit on the exit of turn one but was then in blistering form across the top of the mountain to surge ahead of the target time, and by the time he exited the final corner and headed for the line, was almost half a second clear.
It means Kostecki and David Russell will now have the honour of leading the field away as Erebus bids to return to the top of the podium in the biggest race on the calendar.
“I thought I threw it all away at turn one,” Kostecki admitted “I have a delta on the dash and I knew I had a bit of time to make up. That little mistake, I thought it was gonna cost me.
“The car was awesome across the top, I just threw it down the hill, I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it down the other side.
“I was very happy to get through the Dipper, and I knew going down Conrod I was on a good lap, so I didn’t have to stuff it up.
“I’m Very proud of this whole team, and really excited to be starting off the front row tomorrow.”
Kostecki’s lap prevented Broc Feeney from grabbing pole for Triple Eight having been the man to have set the benchmark time up to that point, leaving him second on the grid in the car he shares with Jamie Whincup, with Cam Waters the fastest of the Ford drivers in third – albeit more than half a second away from pole.
Cam Waters was the best of the Ford drivers and will start from third spot with co-driver James Moffat, with no fewer than six Mustang drivers having made it into the shootout despite the ongoing arguments over parity.
James Golding scored a career best fourth ahead of Anton De Pasquale, with defending champions Shane van Gisbergen and Garth Tander set to line up in sixth.
Amongst those with work to do on race day are the other Erebus car of Will Brown and Jack Perkins, which will start back in 17th after Brown went off the road in the first part of qualifying
