Supercars: Kostecki wins both Sunday races at The Bend

Brodie Kostecki won all three Supercars races at The Bend this weekend – winning on Saturday and then winning twice on Sunday.

Weekend Race 2

Kostecki launched into the lead at the start of the 20-lap race, out dueling Ford racer Thomas Randle (No. 55 Castrol Ford Mustang) in the opening corners of the first lap.

The 25-year-old West Australian then held off a hard charge Randle throughout the 100-kilometre race to take his fifth win of the 2023 Supercars season.

With the win, Kostecki increases his advantage in the championship to 111 points over Shane van Gisbergen (No. 97 Red Bull Ampol Chevrolet Camaro), who finished fifth.

Starting from pole for the first time in his career, Randle finished second to set a new career-best finish after finishing third in yesterday’s Race 20.

Yesterday’s runner-up Chaz Mostert (No. 25 Mobil 1 Optus Ford Mustang) rounded out the podium in third. While it is his sixth top 3 finish of 2023 and fourth in the last six races, the Gold Coaster is still chasing his first win of the season.

Five different teams were represented in the top five of Race 21 with Grove Racing’s David Reynolds (No. 26 Penrite Ford Mustang) finished fourth ahead of Shane van Gisbergen (No. 97 Red Bull Ampol Chevrolet Camaro) in fifth.

Weekend Race 3

Brodie Kostecki has taken a big step towards the 2023 championship, holding off Cam Waters to seal an OTR SuperSprint clean sweep.

Kostecki (#99 Coca-Cola Camaro) won all three races on a weekend for the first time, with Waters (#6 Monster Energy Mustang) just 0.9468s away by the checkered flag.

Thomas Randle (#55 Castrol Mustang) made it three podiums in as many starts, with Nick Percat (#2 Mobil 1 NTI Mustang) a standout fourth for Walkinshaw Andretti United.

It could prove a defining weekend in the championship hunt, with Kostecki’s closest rivals all encountering misfortune in the 20-lapper.

Will Brown (#9 Coca-Cola Camaro) spun en route to 13th, Shane van Gisbergen (#97 Red Bull Ampol Camaro) is being investigated over a pit stop breach, and Broc Feeney (#88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro) was turned around on the penultimate lap.

Heading to the Penrite Oil Sandown 500, the first enduro of the year, Kostecki leads by 137 points over van Gisbergen, with Feeney and Brown 226 and 258 points back.

Erebus Motorsport extended its teams’ championship margin over Triple Eight to 107 points, having led by 43 heading into the weekend.

It came on a weekend The Bend recorded its biggest crowd since the inaugural OTR SuperSprint in 2018, with a total attendance of 41,237.

Percat made a flying start from fourth to challenge pole man Kostecki into Turn 1, with Waters dropping behind Randle into fourth.

Waters quickly picked off Randle at Turn 6 and set off after Percat, with Kostecki enjoying clean air out front. Behind them, Matt Payne (#19 Penrite Mustang) was fifth, ahead of Anton De Pasquale (#11 Shell V-Power Mustang), Will Davison (#17 Shell V-Power Mustang), van Gisbergen, Bryce Fullwood (#14 Middy’s Camaro) and James Courtney (#5 Snowy River Caravans Mustang).

Waters cleared Percat for second at Turn 1 on the second lap, with Kostecki a full second up the road. The margin between Kostecki and Waters would hover at a second towards the stops.

Payne and De Pasquale pitted on lap 5, with a cross-threaded wheel nut ruining the Penrite Racing rookie’s race. Payne would finish 18th.

All the while, Randle passed Percat for third place into Turn 7 on lap 6. Behind them, Brown had jumped from 13th to 10th, only to spear off into Turn 8 on lap 6.

Percat was brought in from fourth on lap 8 and Randle on lap 9, and the two Fords held position.

Van Gisbergen stopped from effective eighth on lap 10 and dropped with the rattle gun still on the right-rear wheel. The incident was placed under investigation, with van Gisbergen later classified fifth.

The margin between the leader two blew out to two seconds by the time Tickford brought Waters in on lap 12, with Erebus responding in kind for Kostecki on lap 13.

Kostecki retook the lead once Mark Winterbottom (#18 DEWALT Camaro) stopped on lap 15, with Waters 1.7s back. Randle, Percat, van Gisbergen, Davison, De Pasquale, Courtney, Fullwood and Feeney completed the top 10.

Feeney emerged 10th after being forced towards the grass on pit straight by Chaz Mostert (#25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang) as they trailed Fullwood, with the WAU driver handed a bad sportsmanship flag over the run-in.

Mostert hounded Feeney and caught air at Turn 2 while trailing the #88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro, and would be classified ninth.

Feeney’s race unraveled when, while ninth, spun out at the final corner on the penultimate lap after a hit from David Reynolds (#26 Penrite Mustang).

Feeney was classified 25th and last, with Reynolds penalized to the tune of 15 seconds. Reynolds had crossed the line ninth, but was reclassified in 20th.

Waters launched a last-ditch attempt on Kostecki, who won his sixth race of the weekend — just days after making his NASCAR Cup Series debut at Indianapolis.

Randle finished six seconds further back in third, ahead of Percat, van Gisbergen, Davison, De Pasquale, Courtney, Mostert and Jack Le Brocq (#34 Truck Assist Camaro).

Sunday Race 2 Results

Sunday Race 3 Results