Supercars News: Waters wins, Kostecki seals 2023 title

Brodie Kostecki has wrapped up the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship after his closest contender, Shane van Gisbergen was taken out, his hopes dashed on the opening lap of today’s race at the VAILO Adelaide 500.

Van Gisbergen, who started the day 131-points behind Kostecki, was caught up in an opening lap crash that ended his day and title ambitions for 2023.

Kostecki’s Coca-Cola Racing Chevrolet Camaro teammate Will Brown made a move down the outside of the field on one of the opening turns, but after bumping with Shell Ford’s Anton De Pasquale, smashed into a wall.

As Brown bounced back onto the circuit he ran into van Gisbergen whose front tire was damaged to a point where it could not be repaired – meaning his day, and this year’s Championship race was over on the opening lap.

Brown is replacing van Gisbergen at Red Bull Ampol Racing in 2024 with the three-time title winner headed to NASCAR after this weekend’s event in Adelaide.

Once racing restarted after the Brown/van Gisbergen crash, Kostecki simply had to finish to wrap up the title and calmly drove to a 6th placed finish, ensuring this year’s crown was his, for the first time in his career.

Officially the race winner was Tickford’s Monster Energy Mustang driver Cam Waters
who made it two wins in two events after his opening win of 2023 last month on the Gold Coast.

It was Waters’ first ever race win in Adelaide and 11th career victory, moving him into 25th on the all-time wins list in Supercars.

Second was Grove Racing’s David Reynolds, his third podium in a row, third was Waters’ Tickford teammate Thomas Randle who rounded out an all Ford Mustang podium – the first for the blue oval in the Gen3 era.

Fourth was Chaz Mostert in the Mobil 1 Optus Mustang ahead of Broc Feeney and Kostecki who finished 5th and 6th respectively.

Brown and Kostecki’s crew will now need to work through the night to repair the #9 Coca-Cola Chevrolet Camaro to ensure they can take to the track tomorrow and compete for the Team’s Championship Title.

Today’s result means Kostecki will become just the 26th different driver to claim the Australian Touring Car Championship/Repco Supercars Championship crown in the sport’s 63-year history.

In just his third year of full-time racing in the Supercars Championship, Kostecki becomes the youngest winner of the title since Scott McLaughlin won it as a 25-year-old in 2018.

Prior to 2023, Kostecki had never won a Supercars race and had one career pole position, five podiums and 16 top ten race finishes since his Supercars debut as a 21-year-old wildcard entry in the 2019 Bathurst 1000.

In 2023 he has won six races on the way to what will be his maiden Supercars Driver’s Title.

He is the first West Australian to win the title since Garth Tander claimed the Driver’s Championship in 2007 and first Australian-born driver to win the Driver’s crown since Jamie Whincup in 2017.

With the driver’s title now wrapped up, the focus for tomorrow’s final race of 2023 turns to the Team’s Championship – which is down to the wire between Red Bull Ampol Racing and Coca-Cola Racing powered by Erebus.

With the results of Kostecki and van Gisbergen’s teammate Feeney today, the Coca-Cola team holds a 131-point lead over the heavyweight Red Bull squad heading into tomorrow’s race.

Qualifying will start the day’s proceedings, followed by the final ARMOR ALL Top Ten Shootout of 2023 and the final race of the year, which begins at 2:45pm local time.

At the conclusion of tomorrow’s race, Kostecki will celebrate his Championship crown.

“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet,” Kostecki said post-race.

“You don’t want to win a Championship when your other contender is knocked out of the race but it’s been a whirlwind of a year, we’ve worked so hard to do what we’ve done today.

“Betty [Klimenko] started this venture 13 years ago. For myself to deliver her first Championship is something that I’m never going to forget.”

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