Supercars: Kostecki wins at The Bend
Erebus Motorsport’s Brodie Kostecki (No. 99 Coca-Cola Chevrolet Camaro) has converted pole into victory in today’s Repco Supercars Championship race at The Bend Motorsport Park, his fourth win of the 2023 season.
The win follows the Perth native’s fifth pole of the season taken earlier on Saturday afternoon. He becomes the eighth different Supercars race winner at The Bend, and increases his championship lead from 41 to 80 points.
Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert (No. 25 Mobil 1 Optus Ford Mustang) finished second in an intense 100-kilometer race, his fifth podium of 2023 and third in the last five races.
Coming home third was Tickford’s Thomas Randle (No. 55 Castrol Ford Mustang), who scored his first career podium as a solo driver.
The 27-year old from Melbourne led the first 10 laps of the race after a flying start from second on the grid en route to being the 14th different driver to stand on a Supercars podium this year.
For the second race in a row, championship contender Will Brown (No. 9 Coca-Cola Chevrolet Camaro) found trouble at the first corner, as the Toowoomba native was spun and collected in a multi-car incident that ended his day and two others on the spot.
With his first DNF since New Zealand last year, Brown drops to fourth in the drivers’ championship.
Triple Eight Race Engineering duo Shane van Gisbergen (No. 97 Red Bull Ampol Chevrolet Camaro) and Broc Feeney (No. 88 Red Bull Ampol Chevrolet Camaro) finished fifth and sixth respectively, just behind Randle’s teammate Cam Waters (No. 6 Monster Energy Ford Mustang in fourth.
Saturday Race Results
POS | NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | BEHIND | POINTS |
1 | 99 | B. Kostecki | Penrite Racing – Erebus | +0.000 | 100 |
2 | 25 | Mostert | Walkinshaw Andretti United | +1.719 | 92 |
3 | 55 | T. Randle | Tickford Racing 2 | +3.092 | 86 |
4 | 6 | C. Waters | Tickford Racing 1 | +3.403 | 80 |
5 | 97 | Van Gisbergen | Red Bull Holden Racing Team | +6.011 | 74 |
6 | 88 | B. Feeney | Red Bull Holden Racing Team | +7.922 | 68 |
7 | 19 | M. Payne | Penrite Racing | +8.146 | 64 |
8 | 5 | Courtney | Tickford Racing 1 | +10.462 | 65 |
9 | 17 | Davison | Shell V-Power Racing Team | +11.688 | 56 |
10 | 8 | Heimgartner | Brad Jones Racing | +12.961 | 52 |
11 | 11 | A. de Pasquale | Shell V-Power Racing Team | +13.633 | 48 |
12 | 3 | T. Hazelwood | CoolDrive Racing | +14.277 | 46 |
13 | 26 | Reynolds | Penrite Racing | +15.344 | 44 |
14 | 31 | J. Golding | PremiAir Subway Racing | +18.859 | 42 |
15 | 34 | J. Le Brocq | Matt Stone Racing | +19.439 | 40 |
16 | 23 | Slade | PremiAir Subway Racing | +21.271 | 38 |
17 | 18 | Winterbottom | Team 18 | +21.588 | 36 |
18 | 2 | Percat | Walkinshaw Andretti United | +22.219 | 34 |
19 | 56 | D. Fraser | Tickford Racing 2 | +22.821 | 32 |
20 | 96 | M. Jones | Brad Jones Racing (2) | +24.243 | 30 |
21 | 14 | B. Fullwood | Brad Jones Racing | +25.894 | 28 |
22 | 20 | S. Pye | Team 18 | +26.753 | 26 |
NC | 9 | W. Brown | Penrite Racing – Erebus | +20 Laps | 0 |
NC | 35 | C. Hill | Matt Stone Racing | +20 Laps | 0 |
NC | 4 | J. Smith | Brad Jones Racing (2) | +20 Laps | 0 |