Bathurst 1000: Blistering Kostecki secures pole position
Defending Supercars champion Brodie Kostecki has secured back-to-back pole positions at the Bathurst 1000 after producing a blistering lap in the Top 10 Shootout to put himself in prime position to attack a maiden win at Mount Panorama.
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Defending Supercars champion Brodie Kostecki battled double vision in a car that felt like a “salt shaker” as he joined a select group of drivers to claim back-to-back Bathurst 1000 pole positions after a blistering Top 10 Shootout lap at Mount Panorama.
After enduring a tough title defence in 2024, Kostecki has put himself in prime position to attack a maiden win in the Great Race after finishing runner-up at the mountain last year.
Kostecki became just the sixth driver in history to claim consecutive Bathurst 1000 pole positions and the first since Garth Tander in 2008-09.
The Erebus Motorsport driver and his co-driver Todd Hazelwood will now be aiming to trump the series champion’s two previous podiums at the mountain.
READ MORE: Davison predicts chaotic Great Race
Kostecki blasted his way to pole position at Bathurst last year, but finished runner-up in the race alongside his then co-driver David Russell behind Shane van Gisbergen and Richie Stanaway. The 26-year-old also finished third with Russell in 2021.
Revealing he had been feeling unwell in the lead-up to the shootout, Kostecki topped the field with his 2min 05.511 lap to secure his place at the front of the grid alongside Tickford Racing’s Cam Waters on Saturday.
Triple Eight young gun Broc Feeney was third, while Grove Racing’s Stanaway and series leader Will Brown rounded out the top five.
Kiwi young gun Matt Payne had secured provisional pole in a wild qualifying session on Friday, but could only manage seventh after kissing the concrete on his lap.
Kostecki revealed he had struggled during the lap with a car vibration, which had left him with “double vision” as he raced down the fastest straight of the circuit.
“I wasn’t too sure if I was going to get it, it wasn’t the best lap that I have done around here,” Kostecki said.
“It was actually a bit hard of a lap to be honest, I had a really bad tyre vibration and it was really hard coming into Conrod (Straight), I was starting to get double vision from the vibration, so I was just glad to pull it up.
“I’ve had a couple of sets of tyres this weekend and put brand new ones on and it feels like a bit of a salt shaker.
“It was a bit surprising then to be honest that was the worst I have felt. It was getting pretty hard to see at 270 kmh plus, so going to the kink at the Chase was pretty interesting.
“So it’s just something we are going to have to keep our eye on tomorrow.”
This season has been a challenging campaign for Kostecki, who did not race until the third round in Taupo in New Zealand after the widely reported falling out with his team.
This year’s Bathurst 1000 will be Kostecki’s last campaign at the mountain for Erebus after signing to join Ford squad Dick Johnson Racing in 2025.
Kostecki said he had been feeling unwell late in the week and had opted to watch the morning’s co-driver practice session from his house.
“I have been feeling a little bit off, there is a bit of a bug going around, so I am feeling a lot better today,” Kostecki said.
“I will be feeling better by tomorrow. I didn’t really have the best of days yesterday, but glad to be on the mend.”
Stanaway made a hot start to the Top 10 Shootout with his 2:05.928 lap, which remained the benchmark until Kostecki slashed 0.41sec off his time as the seventh driver out.
Waters, a two-time Bathurst pole sitter, was the next driver out after Kostecki and fell an agonisingly 0.13sec short of the Erebus driver.
Well out of the title race after missing the first six races of the year, Kostecki can throw everything at his Bathurst bid on Sunday without fear of title implications.
Kostecki said he had learned from his experience starting on pole last year.
“We didn’t really have a good strategy last year, we made a few mistakes during the race and let the Bulls get in front of us and it’s pretty hard to pass from there,” Kostecki said.
“And just made a few more mistakes leading on from that.
“We know we have got a fast race car (this weekend), we just have to minimise the mistakes.”
Hazelwood said he was excited for the opportunity to race with Kostecki on Sunday.
“Massive kudos to Brodie, it was an impeccable lap and he has done an impeccable job in the lead-up to this event,” Hazelwood said.
“(I’m in) prime position as a co-driver working with a driver like Brodie of his calibre and watching the way that he works and the attention to detail that he puts in the car both in the workshop and at the race track, I completely understand why this man is on pole.
“It’s pretty cool to be linking up with him tomorrow. It’s a great opportunity.”
Stanaway made a hot start to the Top 10 Shootout with his 2:05.928 lap, which remained the benchmark until Kostecki slashed 0.41sec off his time as the seventh driver out.
Two-time Bathurst pole sitter Waters was the next driver out after Kostecki and fell an agonisingly 0.13sec short of the Erebus driver.
After wildly celebrating making his first Bathurst Shootout over the team radio in qualifying, Andre Heimgartner’s hopes of making an impact on his lap were dashed when he made a mistake at the first turn and ran wide off the track into the gravel.
Heimgartner’s time put him at the back of the top 10 for the start of Sunday’s race after provisionally qualifying seventh.
Waters hoped his team’s focus on their race set-up this weekend would help him and co-driver James Moffat get past Kostecki.
“We’re in the mix, the front row is still pretty cool around here and it’s a long race tomorrow,” Waters said.
“We have been focusing pretty heavily on the race car this weekend and it feels pretty good and I’m just hopeful all that hard work pays off tomorrow.
“Obviously it’s a lot easier when you start up the front.”
Kostecki’s teammate Jack Le Brocq, Payne, Anton De Pasquale, Chaz Mostert and Andre Heimgartner make up the second half of the top 10.
There are 300 points up for grabs in Sunday’s 1000km race with potential big implications for the championship combatants.
Brown holds a 189-point lead in the championship standings over Ford rival Mostert as both drivers chase their first Supercars crown.
Brown’s teammate Feeney is a further 33 points behind Mostert.
THE MOUNTAIN CLAIMS A VICTIM
Mount Panorama has always been an unforgiving circuit, turning tiny errors into massive mistakes.
New Zealand driver Andre Heimgartner got a cruel reminder of that when he completely blew his chance of grabbing pole position at the Bathurst 1000.
After waiting a decade to qualify for his first Top-10 shootout, Heimgartner could not believe what his turn came for a single lap.
After thundering down pit straight, he went too wide on the very first corner, and threw his Chevrolet into the sand.
He avoided the concrete barriers so didn’t damage the car but he ruined his lap so will start The Great Race from 10th place on the grid.
“I feel like a bit of an idiot,” he told Fox Sports when he finished his lap.
Credit to the Kiwi for calling himself out, but everyone already knew how embarrassed he was before he spilled his guts.
As commentator Neil Crompton put it: “He will be heartbroken with that one … a costly mistake.”
Heimgartner’’s frustration was compounded by how long he had waited to make the Top-10 shootout at Bathurst.
Despite having already won two Supercars races, including a round in his native New Zealand this year, he had never made the shootout at Bathurst in 10 previous tests.
When he finally did this year, he admitted to shedding a tear, so was furious with himself when he overshot the first bend at the aptly named Hell Corner.
“You have to push it sometimes… but I just overstepped it,” he said. “Messed up on my part.”
PAYNE CLAIMS PROVISIONAL POLE
Grove Racing’s Kiwi young gun Matt Payne has claimed provisional pole for the Bathurst 1000 and is now aiming to “seal the deal” in the Top 10 Shootout after a wild qualifying session when two former winners crashed heavily at Mount Panorama.
In a session full of drama after Team 18’s David Reynolds and Dick Johnson Racing’s Will Davison were both involved in big smashes at the same section of the track, Payne pipped Tickford Racing’s Cam Waters and Triple Eight’s Broc Feeney with the fastest time.
Feeney had been on track to better Payne’s 2:05.6452 time at the very end of the session, but he fell just short of completing the lap before the red flags came out for Davison’s crash.
Davison hit the concrete heavily after losing control on the dirty oil-covered track where Reynolds had crashed earlier in the session.
In an act of sportsmanship, Nick Percat immediately pulled up alongside Davison and jumped out of the car to make sure Davison was all right.
Reynolds smashed his Team 18 Camaro heavily into the concrete wall after losing control at The Esses, prompting an almost 15-minute delay while officials cleaned up the track.
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Waters held the fastest time when the season resumed, but Payne upstaged his fellow Ford driver and the series’ top qualifier with his hot lap.
Defending Supercars champion Brodie Kostecki and Triple Eight’s series leader Will Brown rounded out the top five, which was separated by just 0.12sec, to book their tickets to the Top 10 Shootout on Saturday.
Racing at just his third Bathurst 1000, Payne admitted he was amazed with his time in an intense qualifying session.
“It was a really good lap, I was pretty stoked to be able to get that done,” Payne said.
“I was quite amazed at what the time was … the previous practice we didn’t have such a good run on our green tyres, we made a couple of mistakes and we were actually 14th so I was kicking myself a little bit after that one. I knew our car was a bit better than that.
“To be P1 in the provisional qualifying was pretty cool … I knew we were going to be in the top five, but to be first was really good.
“It’s amazing how tight the top four are, the competition is incredible out there, everyone is driving at such a high limit. I got out of the car and I’m almost about to have a heart attack because I’m breathing that hard.
“But it’s probably more from excitement than actually working.”
Payne, teaming with five-time Bathurst 1000 winner Garth Tander, now has his sights on securing pole in the Top 10 Shootout.
“Absolutely I would love it (pole position). It’s probably one of the things in my aspiring career that I have always wanted to achieve,” Payne said.
“I love the Top 10 Shootout here at Bathurst … every YouTube video I have watched of Bathurst, all of it is probably the top 10.
“To seal the deal would be one of my dreams, but there is a 1000km race on Sunday, so I think that is more the important way to think of things and see if we can get it done then.”
Two-time Bathurst champion Chaz Mostert, Brad Jones Racing’s Andre Heimgartner, Erebus Motorsport’s Jack Le Brocq, DJR’s Anton De Pasquale and defending Bathurst champion Richie Stanaway also booked their places in the Top 10 Shootout.
Aside from the Reynolds and Davison crashes, there were also some hairy moments for other drivers.
Kostecki, last year’s Bathurst 1000 pole sitter who has finished on the podium twice at Mount Panorama, was forced into the pits for repairs on his car after kissing the concrete on the run to McPhillamy.
It's sooooo close 🔥
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Waters also pulled off a big save over the top of the mountain after a near miss with the wall going into Forrest’s Elbow.
The Tickford star, who has started on the front of the grid twice at Bathurst, said he would be aiming for another pole on Saturday.
“I want pole (position) as well … I will definitely be giving that a shot. I think we have got the car to get a pole here,” Waters said.
“It’s probably three or four cars that can do it. Tomorrow we have got a bit of a plan, we still have to work on a race car, it’s not all about qualifying.
“So we’ll try and juggle that a bit tomorrow, but we’re in good shape.”
There are two final practice sessions on Saturday ahead of theTop 10 Shootout.
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