Kostecki claims Race 20 pole, SVG sixth

Brodie Kostecki has qualified on the pole for this evening’s OTR SuperSprint race with a stunning final-minute flyer that topped the field by nearly four-tenths of a second. Kostecki’s 1:49.5816 is the fastest time of the weekend at the venue and bettered second-placed Thomas Randle by 0.3668 seconds.

Cam Waters was third fastest in the final phase of the three-part qualifying, falling just 0.02 seconds shy of the front row. Instead, he will be joined by Broc Feeney on the second row.

Shane van Gisbergen overcame issues from this morning’s practices to qualify as the best Kiwi in sixth, where he’ll start alongside Chaz Mostert.

All three New Zealanders in the field qualified for the top ten, with Matt Payne continuing a solid afternoon of pace to earn seventh on the grid, while Andre Heimgartner starts ninth.

Will Brown (8th) and Jack Le Brocq (10th) were the other two drivers to qualify in the top ten.

An early red flag for stones on the circuit worked in favour of Red Bull Racing, however, who had made the late decision to change the power steering pump van Gisbergen’s car following handling issues that hampered his progress in the earlier practice sessions.

Once the first flying laps began to come in mid-way through stage one, Will Brown emerged at the front, his 1:50.3581 setting the early benchmark for the session. Heimgartner would then better this, as would Kostecki, to go top with a 1:50.1580.

Van Gisbergen’s first competitive lap time of the weekend was a commendable 1:50.4974, putting him in the top ten as the field returned to the lane.

Both Waters and Mostert failed to set an early time, instead relying on clear running ahead of the final minutes before the remainder of the field returned to the track. Both would move into the safety of the top 20 with their times but with the rest of the field still to cross the line.

Once they had, very few would improve on their times, leaving Kostecki at the top, ahead of Heimgartner and Payne. Scott Pye, Todd Hazelwood, Mark Winterbottom, Jack Smith and Declan Fraser were the five drivers eliminated.

Davison’s 1:50.4746 was the fastest of the first laps in phase two of qualifying, followed by Heimgartner, Kostecki, Brown and Le Brocq. Van Gisbergen’s best time was only the 18th-quickest as the field returned to their garages ahead of their final runs.

Shell V-Power Racing’s decision to rely on Davison and De Pasquale’s early times to progress was compromised by an evolving track, with late times relegating Davison to 13th and De Pasquale to 14th.

Van Gisbergen improved on his run to go seventh, as did Heimgartner to progress from sixth. Payne impressed with a great lap once again, progressing to phase three from third. Kostecki was the fastest of part two, setting a 1:49.8622.

All Feeney and Randle were the only two of the top ten to set a lap in the opening minutes of phase three, with the Red Bull Camaro getting the better of the Tickford Mustang to hold provisional pole.

All ten returned to the track in the final minutes, with the order shaken up dramatically at the chequered flag. A mega lap of 1:49.5816 saw Kostecki claim the pole while Randle put in a 1:49.9484 as one of the last drivers across the line to secure a front-row start.

Waters and Feeney lock out the second row, while van Gisbergen has Mostert for company on row three. Payne and Will Brown start from row four, ahead of Heimgartner and Le Brocq, respectively.

This evening’s 20-lap race begins at 7.00 pm and will be shown live on Sky Sport 5.

Race 20 Starting Grid