Supercars 2024: All the news, results and analysis from the Gold Coast 500
Will Brown is on the cusp of sealing a maiden Supercars championship after exorcising his Surfers Paradise demons to take second behind Brodie Kostecki at the Gold Coast 500 on Sunday.
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Will Brown is on the cusp of sealing a maiden Supercars championship after exorcising his Surfers Paradise demons to take second behind Brodie Kostecki at the Gold Coast 500 on Sunday.
The Triple Eight star will head to Adelaide next month for the final two races of the season with a hefty 180-point lead over teammate Broc Feeney, after conquering the concrete canyon in what we may look back on as a title-winning drive from the 26 year old.
Brown battled a steering issue from midway through the race that hampered his pursuit of Kostecki, but the title-leader was able to fend off Feeney in third and a fast-finishing Cam Waters to put one hand on the drivers’ championship trophy.
“I needed to get some points over Broc at the end of the day. He’s my main rivalry now, he’s my teammate and he’s pushing hard so (it was) good points going into Adelaide,” Brown said.
“(I am) glad to get through this weekend. I was always nervous of getting a DNF this weekend. We’ll go to Adelaide and see what happens there.”
Although Feeney’s dual third-place finishes saw him cut 24 points off Brown’s pre-Gold Coast 500 lead, the No. 88 Red Bull driver conceded he was “a long shot” to take the title from his teammate’s grasp.
“It’s a long shot going to Adelaide but we’re still in the hunt,” he said.
“I think we’ll just go to Adelaide and try and have some fun and try and win some races. I think the pressure is a bit more off now.
“At the same time I want to learn a lot in this back half of the season because next year (with the new finals format) it’s going to be super important.”
Brown not only extended his championship lead over Feeney but also shed the threat of Chaz Mostert, whose horror weekend continued on Sunday.
The Walkinshaw Andretti ace crossed the line in 11th and was slapped with a post-race pit lane penalty that put the final nail in his faint title hopes after the team accidentally used teammate Ryan Wood’s fuel rig at the second pit stop.
Mostert’s Sunday woes came a day after a would-be podium finish was cruelled by an electrical issue that saw him plummet to 10th at Saturday’s chequered flag.
He is now more than 300 points behind Brown and thus out of title contention, making it a race in two between the Red Bulls.
A podium finish in the opening race of the Adelaide 500 would be enough for Brown to clinch the title.
But Sunday belonged to Kostecki, the reigning Supercars and Bathurst 1000 champion, who converted from pole to record his eighth career victory and second of the season, following his breakthrough chequered flag at The Mountain earlier this month.
It was redemption for the Sunday race at Surfers Paradise last year, when he started on pole but conceded the victory to David Reynolds.
Erebus CEO Barry Ryan lamented what could have been for the team next season had Kostecki not chosen to jump ship to Dick Johnson Racing.
“The start of the year was a shit fight – we have to be honest about it,” said Ryan, referencing the early season drama between Kostecki and the team.
“We just dug deep and we’re all just back in a good headspace, including this champion (Kostecki). I’m just so proud of the way he’s got through this year.
“We had a mission to win Bathurst as soon as he stepped back into the car … we smashed that and we’re going to smash the next two races, too.
“He’s going to another team which is very unfortunate – I’d love to keep him because we could win another championship with the way he and George (race engineer George Commins) are working together.”
Brodie Kostecki wins on the Gold Coast!!!#RepcoSC#Supercarspic.twitter.com/cc8TGlZkbZ
— Supercars (@supercars) October 27, 2024
GOLD COAST 500 RACE 22 RESULTS
1. Brodie Kostecki
2. Will Brown
3. Broc Feeney
4. Cam Waters
5. Thomas Randle
6. Jack Le Brocq
7. Andre Heimgartner
8. Richie Stanaway
9. Matt Payne
10. David Reynolds
SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP LEADERBOARD
1. Will Brown 2772pts
2. Broc Feeney -180
3. Chaz Mostert -309
4. Cam Waters -428
5. Matt Payne -909
6. James Golding -931
7. Thomas Randle -980
8. Nick Percat -1116
9. Will Davison -1149
10. Andre Heimgartner -1158
11-car pileup on opening lap of GC500
Sunday’s Gold Coast 500 feature race has been rocked by an 11-car pileup that brought out a lap one safety car and ended the race of Anton De Pasquale.
De Pasquale’s No. 11 Shell V-Power Mustang had to be rescued from the barriers at turn 11 after the DJR driver was turned backwards on the track as chaos engulfed the streets of Surfers Paradise.
De Pasquale started the drama when he nudged Ryan Wood into the barrier at turn 11 before he was hit on the bumper and turned around, blocking the rest of the field from passing through the tight turn 11.
THE APTLY NAMED BREAKER STREET DELIVERS 🤯
— Supercars (@supercars) October 27, 2024
Follow all the action of the @BoostAus Gold Coast 500 on our Live Feed here 👉 https://t.co/qyu6AAgclo#RepcoSC#Supercarspic.twitter.com/CAsVaurkCU
The DJR driver had to be rescued from the track, while a number of cars – including Wood, James Courtney and Nick Percat – were forced into the pits for emergency repairs.
The safety car was recalled on lap six with Percat and Courtney still in the garage.
The chaotic opening lap pileup comes in contrast to Saturday’s event, which became the first-ever Gold Coast race to have a 100 per cent grid completion rate.
The race resumed on lap seven with pole sitter Brodie Kostecki leading championship leader Will Brown and Chaz Mostert.
SUNDAY: Reigning champ Kostecki claims pole after Shootout blitz
Reigning Supercars champion Brodie Kostecki will start on pole for Sunday’s Gold Coast 500 after dominating the Top Ten Shootout.
The Erebus Motorsport driver, who will depart for Dick Johnson Racing next season, repeated his Sunday qualifying heroics of last year to beat out championship leader Will Brown for pole.
Jack Le Brocq and Chaz Mostert will start on the second row of the grid, with Brown’s teammate and nearest title challenger Broc Feeney finishing a disappointing fifth in the shootout after clawing back points with his podium finish on Saturday.
Provisional pole sitter Matt Payne finished sixth in the shootout ahead of Saturday’s pole sitter and race winner Cam Waters who surprisingly could only manage seventh after being the clear fastest man on track a day earlier.
Richie Stanway, James Golding and Ryan Wood rounded out the top 10.
Rookie Wood shocked in qualifying with the fourth-fastest time to punch his ticket to the shootout, but unfortunately was caught unstuck with a kerb strike meaning he could not set a lap.
RECORD EFFORT HANDS PAYNE PROVISIONAL POLE
Andre Heimgartner brought out an early red flag in Sunday’s Gold Coast 500 qualifying session as Grove Racing’s Matt Payne secured provisional pole ahead of the Top Ten Shootout this afternoon.
Payne produced a Gen3 track record 1:10.150 to beat out Saturday’s pole sitter Cam Waters and Broc Feeney.
Walkinshaw Andretti rookie Ryan Wood shocked his more experienced rivals to finish fourth, ahead of reigning champion Brodie Kostecki.
In a shock result, Saturday’s runner-up Thomas Randle failed to finish in the top 10 and will miss the shootout in the afternoon.
RED FLAG 🚩
— Supercars (@supercars) October 27, 2024
Andre Heimgartner finds the fence at Turn 12!
Follow all the action of the @BoostAus Gold Coast 500 on our Live Feed here 👉 https://t.co/qyu6AAgclo#RepcoSC#Supercarspic.twitter.com/dEbzimnM3I
After an impressive P8 finish in Saturday’s race, Heimgartner hurt his hopes of a repeat performance when he found the fence at turn 12 just minutes into the session.
On Saturday, championship leader Will Brown put his Red Ball in the wall at turn 11 and that cruelled his podium hopes, allowing teammate Broc Feeney to peg back a handful of points.
There was no such issue on Sunday, with Brown running sixth and securing a berth in the top ten shootout.
SATURDAY: CAM’S KING OF THE GOLD COAST AFTER CLINICAL SUPERCARS WIN
Cam Waters is the king of Surfers Paradise once again after a masterful drive from pole to claim the opening race of the Gold Coast 500.
In a repeat performance of last year’s Saturday stunner, the Tickford star conquered the concrete canyon for a second time to take the chequered flag ahead of teammate Thomas Randle and the Red Bull of Broc Feeney.
It marked the first Tickford 1-2 since Chaz Mostert led Waters home at the same track in 2017.
Waters signalled he was the man to beat when he laid down an impressive flying lap in the Top Ten Shootout and delivered as such in the 250km race to record a 15th career victory and fourth of 2024.
The Monster Mustang never truly looked challenged on the streets of Surfers Paradise, with Waters driving into the sunset as his fellow Supercars title challengers battled for the podium placings.
Cam Waters wins race 21 at the Gold Coast 500 ðŸ
— Fox Motorsport (@Fox_Motorsport) October 26, 2024
📺 Watch the #GC500 via @kayosportshttps://t.co/I27QqGFusd
📲 RACE CENTRE https://t.co/4X0lm98iL9â°â°#RepcoSCpic.twitter.com/Il0qBvcI03
By the time he exited the pits for the second and final time, Waters held a 12-second advantage – almost the whole length of the main straight – to Randle and kept that cushy margin to the finish.
“What a day and what a weekend so far. This thing has been an absolute rocket ship all weekend and even Tommy’s car as well so massive credit to the boys and girls at Tickford for giving us some jets,” Waters said.
“It was a lot cruiser win this year than last year – I didn’t have Shane (van Gisbergen) breathing down my throat this year.”
While mathematically still in title contention entering the penultimate round of the season, Waters was the forgotten man in the Gold Coast 500 build-up as talk centred on championship leader Will Brown and his two closest challengers, Feeney and Mostert.
Brown salvaged an earlier qualifying blunder – where he put his Red Bull in the wall at turn 11 and missed the Top Ten Shootout – to rise from 11th at race start into seventh at the chequered flag, minimising the damage to his championship lead which now stands at 171 points following Feeney’s podium.
Brown’s error in qualifying opened the door for Feeney and Mostert to peg back crucial championship points and the pair parked themselves on the second row of the grid after the Top Ten Shootout.
Mostert, who entered the round 225 points behind Brown in the championship, looked a shoe-in for second after blitzing past Richie Stanway on lap nine and keeping a two-second gap to Waters.
But when the Walkinshaw Andretti ace entered the pits he suffered a suspected electrical issue which forced him to crawl into the pit box.
Mostert lost about six seconds due to the slow pit transit on his first stop and even more when he returned on lap 59, plummeting from second to 11th.
He ultimately crossed the line in 10th, conceding a further 18 points to Brown in the championship.
Feeney meanwhile broke his Gold Coast duck with an impressive podium performance after surviving a slow second pit stop of his own.
A recurring fuel flow issue extended Feeney’s second stop and meant he exited the pits on lap 56 behind Matt Payne, but he managed to pass the Grove Racing driver with a stunning move at turn four to clinch third at his home track.“ I thought I got fourth – I didn’t even know,” Feeney revealed.
Feeney lamented a slow second stint and the fuel flow issue that ruined his chance at challenge Waters for the top step of the podium.
“My third stint, if I could take that forward into three stints (on Sunday) I’d be pretty happy,” he said.
“I’m not really sure what went wrong in the second stint, we just really struggled for pace out there.
“I can’t speak for everyone but it (the fuel flow issue) seems very up and down and we don’t really know why. Some races it’s quite good – today it wasn’t.”
Waters became the 12th driver to claim multiple victories at Surfers Paradise. If he can repeat the effort in Sunday’s return race, he will join Jamie Whincup and van Gisbergen (six wins) as the only drivers to taste victory at Surfers Paradise more than twice.
WATERS EARNS POLE
Tickford star Cam Waters will start on pole for Saturday’s Gold Coast 500 after edging out Richie Stanway and Chaz Mostert in the Top Ten Shootout.
Waters kept his faint Supercars title hopes alive with a masterful lap of the Surfers Paradise street circuit, clinching his sixth pole position of the season and 28th of his career.
His 1:11.058 was enough to take ownership of the first row of the grid and he will fancy his chances of converting the pole into a victory, just as he did here last year.
Earlier, the Supercars title fight was blown wide open when championship leader Will Brown put his Red Bull into the wall at turn 11 during qualifying and was scrubbed out of the Top Ten Shootout contention.
Brown will start 11th for the race – a precarious position to be in given the propensity for chaos in the concrete canyon of Surfers Paradise.
Meanwhile the chasing pack are all up the front, headed by fourth-ranked Waters who will have championship No. 3 Chaz Mostert and No. 2 Broc Feeney right behind him on the second row of the grid.
Feeney and Mostert in particular will be eager to place themselves on the podium and bridge the gap to Brown in the championship battle with a further three races to go after Saturday’s 85-lapper.
Friday’s practice pace setter Thomas Randle will start fifth on the grid, followed by James Golding, James Courtney, David Reynolds and Matt Payne.
Reigning champion Brodie Kostecki will start 10th after his flying lap was struck from contention due to a kerb strike at turn eight.
The decision to turn off the kerb sensors at turns two and nine made life much easier for drivers after Friday’s practice was plagued by more than 300 kerb strikes across the two sessions.
QUALIFYING CRASH BLOWS CHAMPIONSHIP RACE WIDE OPEN
The Supercars championship race has been blown wide open after title leader Will Brown crashed out in qualifying on Saturday morning.
Brown locked his rear wheels entering turn 11 and spun into the barriers, bringing out a red flag and ending the session early.
The championship leader sat in seventh at the time of the crash but because he was the one to bring out the red flag, his lap was scrubbed out meaning he will miss the top 10 shootout in the afternoon.
It means Brown will start from 11th on the grid for Saturday’s race, leaving him vulnerable on a street circuit known to cause chaos.
“I’ve been locking rears the last two sessions and just thought I’d get a turn but didn’t,” Brown said.
“Unfortunately I took a couple of other cars out of their quali. Sorry to them. These things happen, it’s Gold Coast. These things happen and we’ll press on.”
Red Bull is now in a race against the clock to get Brown’s Camaro patched up for the 85-lapper this afternoon.
THIS IS CHAMPIONSHIP-CHANGING STUFF 🤯#RepcoSC#Supercarspic.twitter.com/UoOEjhiyBe
— Supercars (@supercars) October 26, 2024
Tim Slade and Nick Percat were also caught up in the chaos when they arrived at the corner and were unable to avoid Brown’s Red Bull.
Richie Stanway was the surprise time sheet topper after the late red flag drama, clocking a 1:10.444 to edge out Chaz Mostert and Cam Waters.
Brown’s teammate and championship contender Broc Feeney put himself into fifth.
It means Brown is the only driver still in title contention who will not feature in the top 10 shootout.
Originally published as Supercars 2024: All the news, results and analysis from the Gold Coast 500
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