Red Bull Racing mechanic and Super2 driver Kurt Kostecki forging his own path towards Supercars

Kurt Kostecki is the mechanic who hopes to one day fill the shoes of powerhouse Red Bull Racing Supercars team drivers Jamie Whincup and Shane Van Gisbergen.

KURT Kostecki is the mechanic who hopes to one day fill the shoes of powerhouse Red Bull Racing Supercars team drivers Jamie Whincup and Shane Van Gisbergen.

The 21-year-old has been working with the Gold Coast-based Triple Eight Racing crew, who run the Red Bull team, for the past five years, discovering the secrets that have made it one of the most dominant forces in racing between stints with his head under the hood and his back in the driver’s seat.

“To have them to lean on at any time has been awesome, especially Shane, he has been really valuable to me in every way,” Kostecki said.

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“He has been heaps of help in driving and preparation. We get along really well and I’m thankful for that and for the engineers too.”

Kostecki has featured in eight Supercars races over the past three years courtesy of wildcard entries, four in 2016 and four in 2018, while he currently holds third in the Super2 series, the tier below Supercars, ahead of the final two rounds left including the Sandown 500 and Newcastle 500.

SUper2 driver Kurt Kostecki after Saturday's Race

Kostecki’s dream is to get a full-time spot in what is labelled “the main game”. He feels he is ready to make the step up and is acutely aware of the flurry of driver changes each team has each year, he knows he needs to prove himself to Red Bull boss Roland Dane if he is to stick with the team he is working closely with in the future.

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The family also operates Kostecki racing, with Kostecki’s brother Jake and their cousin Brodie gaining wildcard entries to the 2019 enduro series.

“There are a lot of things in the pipeline all the time and things changing all the time but I’m definitely pushing towards Supercars,” Kostecki said.

“Roland would never put someone in who he doesn’t think is ready. Every time I go on the track I try to prove that I’m ready to take the step up and from there keep moving.

“I feel like I’m ready. I need to step into the main series and do more laps there to try and build myself some more but having the team behind me, we are building the Super2 team as best we can in the direction of the main series.”