Supercars 2023: Scott Pye blasts James Golding after scary incident, Brodie Kostecki title-bound
A Supercars driver has been labelled “the dumbest driver in the field” following a close call that brought an early end for a rival at the Gold Coast 500.
Scott Pye has blasted a Supercars rival on social media for what he labelled “the dumbest move I’ve come across in 20 years” following a close call that brought an early end to the Team 18 driver’s Gold Coast 500 on Sunday.
Pye declared James Golding “the dumbest driver in the field” in a double-pronged social media post on Sunday night that took aim at the PremiAir Racing driver’s track re-entry that almost ended in disaster.
Golding was chasing Cam Waters for the final step of the podium when he hit the tyre wall at the front chicane on lap 78 and sent himself into a spin.
With Golding splayed across the middle of the track he hit the gas and performed a flick spin to right himself – just as Pye came around the corner and to the rear of his PremiAir rival.
Incredibly Pye was able to dodge Golding in the centre of the track but in doing so forced himself into the right-hand fence – ending his race and bringing out a safety car.
“Possibly the dumbest move I’ve come across in 20 years,” Pye wrote on Instagram alongside a replay of the incident.
“On for 6th with a few laps remaining when @jimmygolding decided to re enter the track like this. Oh and @supercarschampionship officials don’t call this a dangerous re entry.”
Pye posted the same video to his Instagram story, with the caption: “came across the dumbest driver in the field today @supercarschampionship”.
Golding was not penalised for the incident and went on to finish sixth, while Pye did not finish the race.
Former Supercars driver and current Motorsport Australia Driving Standards Advisor, Craig Baird, weighed in on the incident in the comments of Pye’s Instagram post.
Baird, whose role as DSA is to advise stewards on on-track conduct, wrote: “I feel for @scottpye I really do. But Golding didn’t breach any rules as the corner before was under yellow flag conditions warning drivers. Yes Golding had better options.”
But Pye did not agree with Baird’s assessment.
“@craigbairdo this is ass covering and you know it,” Pye wrote in reply to Baird.
“We were six seconds behind him on track. Flag point prior would have got it out so close to me arriving at 270kph. But how much speed do you really think I could have wiped off in that time for a single waved yellow to avoid a car doing a flick spin on race line.
“But ok if under yellow there is no longer such (a) thing as a dangerous re entry you have just opened yourself up to a lot of issues in the future.
“Imagine he was driving back from an escape road and boned me? Different? I am not surprised you’re in the comment section looking for friends because there’s not a driver that agrees with you.”
In August it was revealed Pye would leave Team 18 at the end of the season, with Sunday’s race winner David Reynolds set to replace him in 2024.
Without a full-time race seat for the first time in his Supercars career, Pye will return to Triple Eight next season as a co-driver.
ONLY HUGE ERROR CAN DENY KOSTECKI THE TITLE
Brodie Kostecki has one hand on the Supercars Championship after a super drive on the streets of Surfers Paradise restored his 131-point lead in the title race with Shane van Gisbergen.
The man they call ‘Bush’ produced a champion-caliber drive on the Glitter Strip - casting aside a frustrating Saturday finish and questions over his title credentials to put himself in the box seat for a title showdown in Adelaide.
A late safety car interrupted an enthralling battle between he and race winner David Reynolds, with the latter taking the chequered flag in somewhat controversial circumstances as Cam Waters followed home for third.
“(Reynolds) did a great job today – they just beat us on strategy there halfway through the race,” Kostecki conceded.
“What a way to fight back today. I really wanted that one, but it was an awesome race. It feels like just what the doctor ordered.
“I dug myself a bit of a hole yesterday in the shootout and was happy to be able to claw that back today.
“It’s great to go to Adelaide with the same points gap we went into Gold Coast with.”
Reynolds was released onto the track ahead of Kostecki on lap 60 but immediately came under threat from the Coca-Cola Camarao.
Kostecki appeared poised to take the race victory when he cleared Reynolds with 13 laps left to run, only to hand the lead back to the Grove Racing veteran soon after.
The championship leader threatened to pass Reynolds once more only for a late safety car to settle the field with seven laps to run.
When racing resumed Reynolds was able to hold off a fierce Kostecki challenge – aided by a last lap shortcut over the turn two chicane that raised eyebrows in the Erebus garage – to clinch his first victory since 2018.
What a race! David Reynolds wins at the @BoostAus Gold Coast 500!!!#RepcoSC#Supercarspic.twitter.com/dmovpAZDyE
— Supercars (@supercars) October 29, 2023
“This track lends itself to having a bit of a lend of the rules if you want it to,” Erebus boss Barry Ryan said.
“Obviously Dave knew there was one lap to go and Brodie was going to pass him at the hairpin, so he just drove straight (through the chicane). That’s just what you can do in the rules.
“Brodie could have used the same trick and didn’t. That’s just the nature of this track.”
It marked Reynolds’ first win in five years and first for Grove Racing ahead of his departure to Team 18 next season.
He celebrated his breakthrough triumph by releasing a spray of fire extinguisher fluid over the podium.
“This was the best weekend we’ve had as a team together in the last three years,” Reynolds said.
“There’s been a parity adjustment to the Ford which gave us an opportunity this weekend to perform on a similar playing field (to the Camaro). Without that I probably wouldn’t be sitting here.
“Thanks to the category for doing that.”
Reynolds’ victory completed a Ford clean sweep of the Gold Coast 500, following Waters’ win on Saturday.
Van Gisbergen came home for fifth – cancelling out the chunk of points he had gained on Kostecki a day earlier.
He had burst back into the title fight on Saturday when his Red Bull romped home in second while Kostecki was forced to settle for fifth following an earlier shootout shocker.
But those fortunes were reversed on Sunday when the three-time champion’s charge was crippled by a shootout kerb strike of his own as Kostecki put himself on pole for the eighth time this season Supercars next heads to Adelaide for the final round on November 23-26.
If Kostecki outscores van Gisbergen by 19 points in the opening race he will clinch the title.
Red Bull’s reigning champion must now hope for a catastrophic Kostecki error if he is to steal a fourth Supercars title before jetting off to the United States to compete in NASCAR.
WATER, SVG LIGHT-UP GLITTER STRIP
Cam Waters and Shane van Gisbergen produced one of the all-time great Supercars finishes on the streets of Surfers Paradise with the Monster Mustang edging out the rampaging Red Bull by less than two-tenths of a second on Saturday.
Waters won a drag race to the line as van Gisbergen piled pressure on championship leader Brodie Kostecki, who could only manage fifth following an earlier mistake in the Top Ten Shootout.
It opens the door for an enticing title battle between van Gisbergen and Kostecki, with the gap between the two drivers closing to 104 points with three races still to run.
Grove Racing veteran David Reynolds rounded out the podium placings ahead of Waters’ Tickford teammate Thomas Randle, who made it three Fords inside the top-four.
Waters converted his third pole of the campaign into a second race victory of the year and first since the season-opener in Newcastle, leading home a charging van Gisbergen and Reynolds to the chequered flag.
But his scintillating 250km stint on the streets of Surfers Paradise was much more impressive – not only because the Newcastle win came courtesy of a Red Bull double disqualification.
“Unbelievable,” said Waters, who converted pole to victory for the fifth time in his career.
“It’s been such a shocking year to be honest and it’s so good to final get the win – a proper one.
“The emotion on my team’s face says it all.
“Shane was coming for me, but there was no way I was going to let him beat me again.”
It doesn't get much better than this!
— Supercars (@supercars) October 28, 2023
Cam Waters holds off Shane van Gisbergen in a TENSE battle to the flag 🔥🔥 #RepcoSC#Supercarspic.twitter.com/slPh4e4JW8
Waters looked unflappable in his new-look Monster Mustang, which came armed with an upgraded aero package courtesy of further parity adjustments after Bathurst.
That was until van Gisbergen cleared an ailing Reynolds and took the fight up to the Tickford star with 10 laps remaining.
But the Monster Mustang – so unlucky all season – stayed strong under the three-time Supercars champion’s mounting pressure and held on for a gallant Gold Coast victory – Waters’ first on the Glitter Strip and 10th of his career.
After seeing off the early challenge from Grove Racing rookie Matt Payne, who was a surprise front-row starter following a stellar Shootout showing, Waters took control of the 85-lapper.
The first pivotal moment came on lap 56 when Waters exited the pits alongside Reynolds, whose pit stop strategy helped him surge into contention having started fifth on the grid.
Waters muscled his way ahead and looked set to romp away for a simple victory, until van Gisbergen began to smell blood in the water.
The Red Bull star, who took both race victories on the Surfers Paradise street circuit in 2022, drove his way to the bumper of Waters on the final lap and threatened to pass him at the final corner but ran out of track and time to do so.
Kostecki salvaged what could have been a disaster of a day for the Erebus star, whose kerb strike in the Shootout relegated him to P10 on the grid while van Gisbergen started third.
But the championship leader flew through the field in the early exchanges and was able to cross the line in fifth, limiting the points damage.
Kostecki started the race with a 131-point lead over van Gisbergen, but that has now been cut to 104 after the Red Bull star’s super Surfers Paradise drive.
GOLD COAST 500 RACE 25 RESULTS
1. Cam Waters
2. Shane van Gisbergen
3. David Reynolds
4. Thomas Randle
5. Brodie Kostecki
6. Scott Pye
7. Andre Heimgartner
8. Chaz Mostert
9. Matt Payne
10. James Courtney
SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER RACE 25
1. Brodie Kostecki (2558)
2. Shane van Gisbergen (2454)
3. Will Brown (2129)
4. Broc Feeney (2102)
5. Chaz Mostert (1990)
6. Andre Heimgartner (1776)
7. Cam Waters (1700)
8. Anton De Pasquale (1638)
9 Jack Le Brocq (1553)
10. Bryce Fullwood (1545)
KOSTECKI ERROR GIFTS SVG MASSIVE TITLE CHANCE AS WATERS TAKES POLE
Supercars championship leader Brodie Kostecki has opened the door for title rival Shane van Gisbergen to peg some points back after a costly error in the Top Ten Shootout on Saturday.
Erebus ace Kostecki looked in command on his one-and-done lap before a small mistake at the beach chicane that saw him pick up a kerb strike – the only driver in the shootout to do so.
That sent Kostecki to the back of the shootout field and he will start in P10 on the grid for the 3.45pm AEST race start.
It marks the championship leader’s worst qualifying result since the opening race in Townsville, where he started 15th and finished 19th.
Van Gisbergen had been the most vocal a day earlier about the controversial kerb sensors, but the Red Bull star looms as the biggest beneficiary after Kostecki’s mistake.
He trails Kostecki by 131 points with four races still to run.
Van Gisbergen will start on the second row of the grid after posting the third-fastest time in the shootout, behind pole sitter Cam Waters and surprise front-row starter, Matt Payne.
Waters punched in his third pole of the season and 22nd of his career as the only driver to post a sub-1:11 time on the Surfers Paradise street circuit.
It marks a maiden Gold Coast 500 pole for the Monster Mustang driver.
Grove Racing rookie Payne will start on the front row for the first time in his fledgling Supercars career.
His previous best qualifying position was third.
TOP TEN SHOOTOUT RESULTS
1. C. Waters (1:10.950)
2. M. Payne (1:11.055)
3. S. van Gisbergen (1:11.154)
4. T. Randle (1:11.337)
5. D. Reynolds (1:11.365)
6. C. Mostert (1:11.552)
7. S. Pye (1:11.646)
8. A. Heimgarter (1:11.850)
9. T. Slade (1:12.319)
10. B. Kostecki (kerb)
WATERS TOPS QUALIFYING, FEENEY AND BROWN SHOCK FAILURES
Tickford star Cam Waters will take provisional pole into the Top Ten Shootout on Saturday afternoon after leading a Ford one-two finish in qualifying at the Gold Coast 500.
Waters hit the line for a 1:10.836 – two tenths slower than Shane van Gisbergen’s leading practice time from Friday – ahead of Grove Racing rookie Matt Payne and championship leader Brodie Kostecki in third.
After struggling for pace in Friday practice, Kostecki found form when he needed it to put himself one step closer to clinching his maiden Supercars title.
Nearest rival Shane van Gisbergen finished fifth in qualifying, behind Waters’ Tickford teammate Thomas Randle in fourth.
Scott Pye, David Reynolds, Tim Slade, Chaz Mostert and Andrew Heimgartner will also feature in the Top Ten Shootout, which begins at 1.05pm AEST.
Four-time season race winner Will Brown will start at the back of the grid for Saturday’s 250km stint around the Surfers Paradise street circuit after a mystery gear box issue ruined his qualifying.
“Right now I have no idea what it is to be honest,” Brown said.
“I had a problem yesterday at the end of practice … the boys worked really hard last night to try and find (the problem).
“I went out there and it did it again … not ideal.
“Going to make this one hard for us this afternoon.”
Broc Feeney was the other shock omission from the top 10.
The Red Bull star got a kerb strike on his final flying lap, leaving him stranded in 21st at the end of qualifying.
SVG TAKES AIM AT GC KERBS AS DRIVERS STRUGGLE IN PRACTICE
Reigning Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen has taken aim at the infamous Gold Coast 500 kerbs declaring “qualifying is going to be luck” after drivers struggled to get to grips with the Surfers Paradise circuit during Friday practice.
Van Gisbergen topped the time sheet in a rain-affected afternoon practice session ahead of Walkinshaw ace Chaz Mostert and Matt Stone Racing’s Jack Le Brocq, but that didn’t stop the Red Bull star from once again questioning the kerb strike system in place on the Gold Coast.
The three-time champion’s frustration is borne out of the placement of kerb sensors, which he last year labelled a “lottery”.
Sensors placed on the kerbs at turns two, seven, eight and nine are used to determine whether a driver has left the bounds of the racetrack.
If the sensor detects a driver has cut too much of the kerb, their practice or qualifying lap is deemed invalid.
“There’s no point going on (about it),” van Gisbergen said on Friday.
“Just copy and paste the quotes from last year.
“They (the Gen3 cars) feel fine, it’s just all about the kerbs. That lap I did the 1.10:6 I thought, ‘that was a cut’ (but there was) no cut. It’s just so random.
“Qualifying is just going to be luck.”
The tyre bundles which were previously used to give drivers a guideline for navigating the kerbs were removed for this year’s event after criticism last season.
They have been replaced with bright orange lines on the inside of the kerbs.
But that did not stop the bulk of the field from being hit with kerb strike infringements regularly throughout Friday’s two practice sessions.
“Still hasn’t helped me – I still seem to be setting them off every second lap, “Le Brocq said.
“I think it’s probably still quicker to take more (of the kerb) and you are getting penalised for it with the cuts, but it’s such a fine line and it’s harder than what we had previously.
“Without the tyre bundles … there you could drive to that and feel where you are with the car when you clip them.
“It’s going to be hard to put a lap together tomorrow.”
Mostert however felt he had gotten a read on the kerb issue.
“In my car, when I’ve questioned myself if I’ve had a hop I’ve gotten a hop,” he said.
“In those two practice sessions I didn’t run across and thought I was fine and ended up with a hop – maybe I’m just using way too much and then not enough.”
The lack of dry running on Friday added a further layer of complexity ahead of Saturday’s qualifying session.
Rain began to fall as cars were readying to hit the track for practice one and continued intermittently throughout the day.
With dry conditions forecast for Saturday and Sunday, teams were able to glean little data ahead of the debut of the Gen3 Supercars on the streets of Surfers Paradise.
“All the plans went out the window when it rained 30 seconds before going out,” van Gisbergen said.
“Obviously it was difficult not being able to do continuous running and the track always changing.
“We wanted to try a few more things, but everyone would be the same.”
The Red Bull ace won both Gold Coast races last season, clinching his third Supercars title in the process.
This year he arrived at Surfers Paradise 131 points behind championship leader Brodie Kostecki.
Van Gisbergen must score well and hope the uber-consistent Kostecki fails to fire if he is to have any chance of catching his Erebus rival before the season decider in Adelaide.
“Brodie has to have a problem, which I’m not going to wish on anyone, so I just need to do my best and be upfront every race and score as many points as possible and hopefully we go to Adelaide with a chance,” van Gisbergen said.
SUPERCARS LEGEND’S HUGE CALL AS TITLE FIGHT HEADS FOR TENSE END
—Rebecca Williams
Supercars great Mark Skaife has backed Brodie Kostecki to hang on in the title fight this year but says the series leader will have to thwart the attack of the field’s “street circuit specialist” Shane van Gisbergen.
Kostecki holds a 131-point lead over his Triple Eight rival van Gisbergen with two rounds remaining in the championship.
Both will be raced on street circuits on the Gold Coast and Adelaide.
Skaife highlighted the “high-risk” aspect of the street circuits that can “bite hard” and said Kostecki’s lead was far from safe.
He said the battle would come down to the strength on the streets of triple Supercars champion van Gisbergen against the consistency at all venues this season of Erebus Motorsport star Kostecki.
“They are very high-risk circuits,” Skaife said.
“The smallest mistake at both venues bites you pretty hard, so there is a lot to play for and a high-level of consequence if you get it wrong.
“You would have to say Shane has been – and is – a street circuit specialist.
“You would also have to say that Brodie has demonstrated the ability to make the car work at basically every venue and is also a very, very committed young racing driver.
“He is only 25 years of age and has led the championship for the bulk of the season.
“You never get a non-effort, you always get a 100 per cent effort from Brodie, so I’m really looking forward to seeing how it plays out.”
Van Gisbergen won both races at the Gold Coast 500 last year and sits third for the most victories at the Surfers Paradise track.
Kostecki has banked more wins this season than any other driver (six) as he hunts his maiden Supercars title.
Nominating Erebus as the benchmark this year, Skaife said Kostecki, who was runner-up at the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000, had grown during the season and backed him to deliver the team’s first drivers’ championship.
“I think Brodie has matured a lot through the year, in terms of his level of consistency and his application to the task,” Skaife said.
“I would like to think that he cannot just hang on but he can do a good enough job to make these last four races really count for him in terms of his career and for that team.
“They have been the standout team this year when you think about what has gone on.
“If you did a summary of the season and looked at all the things that Erebus have done, they have been the benchmark.
“So I would like to think that they can hang on.”
On the tight concrete confines of the Surfers Paradise track, Skaife said qualifying could be a huge factor in how the championship battle unfolds because overtaking is much more of a challenge.
“Qualifying is crucial,” Skaife said. “We always say it but probably at the Gold Coast even more than Adelaide.
“Adelaide tends to have a higher level of overtaking opportunities than the Gold Coast.
“The Gold Coast is tough to overtake if you don’t qualify well.
“If you look at history, the winner has essentially come from the front row of the grid here a very high level of times.
“You think about heading down into the first chicane and being able to control the track position, that gives real authority.”
Kostecki’s Erebus teammate Will Brown and Triple Eight young gun Broc Feeney are third and fourth in the driver standings. They trail Kostecki by 390 and 408 points respectively.
While Skaife acknowledged a lot would have to go right for the pair to make it more than a two-way title fight, he said the “unforgiving” nature of the street tracks meant there could still be big points swings.
“When you think about the number of points that are available – 600 points still remain – and say for instance you crash out on the Saturday or in qualifying you crash out in lots of times at these sorts of venues, you can’t repair the car,” Skaife said.
“So you could have a 300-point swing.
“Remember (Scott) McLaughlin’s crash here at the first chicane? It was just a monstrous crash.
“So this is a very unforgiving layout and that then makes the penalty for mistakes extremely high.
“I wouldn’t discount anyone within these two race meetings until we play through the Gold Coast.
“You have to basically have a look at what happens after this weekend. I think it will be really important to get through this one unscathed.”
COURTNEY CONFIRMS 2024 PLANS, HINTS AT FUTURE
James Courtney says his contract at the Blanchard Racing Team is likely to be his last as a full-time Supercars driver.
The 2010 Supercars champion has signed with the expanding Ford squad for the next two years as part of an all-new driver line-up alongside young gun Aaron Love, who will make the step up from Super2.
BRT is growing from a single to a two-car operation and Courtney said he was excited to help mentor the next generation at an outfit that is going in a new direction after bidding farewell to Todd Hazelwood.
Courtney’s end-of-season departure from Tickford Racing, which is cutting back from four cars to two next season, was confirmed on Tuesday.
The 43-year-old said he was excited about the “clean slate” at BRT and the role he could play in helping guide Love, 21, at the start of his Supercars career.
“It’s pretty much a clean slate with those guys with the expansion and the direction (team co-principal) Tim Blanchard is wanting to take the team,” Courtney said. “It’s very exciting.
“Pairing up with Aaron will be another exciting prospect. He is one of the rising stars of the Supercar ranks and I look forward to taking him under my wing as a mentor.
“I have no doubt he has the speed to really push me and the team forward.
“With the growth and the direction Tim and the whole team at BRT are trying to take it all, I hope that my experience, calmness and everything I’ve done previously can help with that and try to speed up that whole process.”
In his fourth season at Tickford, Courtney sits 13th in the Supercars championship this year but suggested his new deal was likely to be his last as a full-time driver.
“We have two years in this set-up and I think that’s just about it,” said Courtney, who has raced in Supercars since 2006.
“There has been a lot of thinking on my part. I’m in the twilight of my career, so to speak.
“I love racing and would love to keep going and race forever but I’m a realist as well and with what we’re trying to do with BRT, it’s about building the team and then the next generation as well.
“We’ll do these two years and then we’ll see how we go. I think the world will have seen enough of me by then but I’ll squeeze a little bit more juice out of this lemon.”
Love is campaigning for BRT in the feeder Supercars series and ran in a wildcard for the team in this year’s endurance races at Sandown and in the Bathurst 1000, where he finished 19th alongside Jake Kostecki.
The rookie said he was grateful to be given the opportunity to make the move to the main game but acknowledged it was going to be a “challenge to step up”.
Blanchard said the mix of experience and youth was the perfect combination for the team.
“It’s exciting to have Aaron and James on board as we take the next step in our development as a team,” Blanchard said.
“We are also excited to watch Aaron develop as he has quickly proven himself as being one of Supercars’ hottest prospects.
“Todd Hazelwood has been an important part of the BRT story to date.
“We thank him for his contribution to our development in 2023 and we hope to work with him again in the future.”
Originally published as Supercars 2023: Scott Pye blasts James Golding after scary incident, Brodie Kostecki title-bound
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