Supercars champion Kostecki on pole for season ender

Joanna Guelas | November 26, 2023

Newly-minted Supercars champion Brodie Kostecki will start from pole in the season’s final race after leading the top ten shootout in Adelaide.

Kostecki was the fifth driver to have a solo crack at the street circuit on Sunday and he set an unbeatable pace with a 1:19.543 lap time to secure his 10th pole of the season.

The Erebus driver failed to convert his pole position into victory in Saturday’s opening 250km race of the weekend, finishing sixth behind winner Cam Waters (Tickford Racing).

But that mattered little as he claimed his maiden series title, after an early crash ended defending champion Shane van Gisbergen’s hopes.

“To back it up today is just awesome,” Kostecki said.

“Really looking forward to this afternoon and hopefully we can finish the season with a win.

“It’s going to be a tight one that’s for sure, but we’ll put our best foot forward.”

Penrite Racing rookie Matthew Payne looked close to converting his provisional pole to the real deal but fell short to Kostecki by 0.031 seconds.

Waters trailed behind Payne by just 0.062 seconds to seal third on the grid.

James Golding (Nulon Camaro) was first out in the shootout and stayed in the top with a 1:20.144 lap time until Kostecki blitzed his one-lap dash.

Payne’s teammate and race 27 runner-up David Reynolds was relegated to the bottom of the order after striking the kerb just seconds into his solo lap.

“I gave it everything I got. I think I was too overconfident at the start,” Reynolds said.

“I turned the last corner and I thought my car was really good so I attacked turn one really hard going for pole and got a little kerb strike.

“That’s unfortunate but that’s the sport and the rules we play in.”

The last race of the season gets underway at 2.45pm (ACDT).

ADELAIDE 500 TOP-10 SHOOTOUT RESULTS:

1. Brodie Kostecki (Erebus Motorsport) 1:19.543

2. Matthew Payne (Penrite Racing) +0.031

3. Cam Waters (Tickford Racing) +0.093

4. Chaz Mostert (Walkinshaw Andretti United) +0.111

5. Broc Feeney (Triple Eight Race Engineering) +0.138

6. Thomas Randle (Tickford Racing) +0.140

7. James Golding (Nulon Racing) +0.600