Brodie Kostecki overcame a poor start and an early Safety Car period to extend his championship lead with victory in the opening race of the OTR SuperSprint at The Bend this evening.
The Erebus Motorsport driver finished 1.7 seconds clear of second-placed Chaz Mostert, with Tickford’s Thomas Randle finishing third over Cam Waters, having led early.
All three New Zealanders in the field finished in the top ten, led by Shane van Gisbergen in fifth. The result, off the back of limited track time this morning, moves the Kiwi to second in the championship standings after Will Brown was one of three cars retired following a Lap 1, Turn 1 multi-car collision.
Matt Payne was rewarded with a solid result of seventh, having shown great pace all day. It’s Payne’s third top-ten of his career and sees him pull further clear in the battle of the rookies.
Andre Heimgartner rounded out the top ten, withstanding a late challenge from Anton de Pasquale.
It was Randle who got the better launch off the front row to pull a gap down the long straight into Turn 1, while a slow start compromised Kostecki, who Mostert also passed. Van Gisbergen also got away well from sixth to slot into fourth.
Mid-pack, the multi-car collision saw Will Brown, Cameron Hill, and Jack Smith return to the lane on flatbeds, and a Safety Car called for. Brown was nudged into the path of Le Brocq and turned as a result, while Hill was spun in separate contact further back.
The two cars came together and blocked the track in front of Smith and Mark Winterbottom, with the former making head-on contact with Hill’s car while the latter escaped the carnage to return to the rear of the field.
Randle controlled the Lap 5 restart well, holding off Mostert, who had Kostecki on his tail. Heimgartner and Payne, meanwhile, retained their starting positions and were running in the top ten.
Broc Feeney, James Courtney and Le Brocq were the first of the lead pack to take their compulsory stop at the end of Lap 5, returning into clear air at the rear of the field.
Kostecki passed Mostert with a big lunge at Turn 5 on Lap 7 to reclaim second, the move also bringing van Gisbergen and Waters into the equation.
Waters took fourth off the Kiwi on Lap 9 and began pursuing Mostert, who had pulled 1.5 seconds clear in third. Heimgartner stopped from seventh on the same lap, returning behind Feeney and Courtney in 14th, third of the cars that had stopped.
Randle, Kostecki and Mostert engaged in a three-car battle for the lead on Lap 11, with the Erebus Motorsport driver taking the lead on the penultimate corner before Randle and Mostert dove into the pits. The two were inseparable emerging from the lane, with Feeney and Courtney also joining their battle.
Van Gisbergen and Waters came in on Lap 12, leaving Kostecki as the last contender yet to stop on track. Waters dropped in right behind Randle and Mostert, while van Gisbergen lost places to Feeney and Courtney, their early stops paying dividends.
Kostecki stopped from the lead the following circuit, returning to the net lead but on colder tyres right in front of Randle and Mostert, who moved to second a few turns later. The move allowed Kostecki to pull a small gap on the pack.
Van Gisbergen also managed to pass Courtney on fresher rubber, falling in behind his teammate and overtaking him to move to net fifth on Lap 14.
Once all cars had made their stops, Kostecki’s lead over Mostert sat at 1.2 seconds, with van Gisbergen retaining fifth, Payne running eighth and Heimgartner tenth. Payne overtook Courtney for seventh on Lap 17 before chasing down Feeney over the final two laps, ultimately running out of time to get the move done.
Kostecki managed his gap over the pack well in the final laps, taking the chequered flag over Mostert by 1.7 seconds, while Randle was a further 1.4 seconds back in third.
Waters finished fourth, following orders to remain behind his teammate over the final lap. Van Gisbergen was fifth, ahead of his teammate, while Payne, Courtney, Davison and Heimgartner rounded out the top ten.
Supercars return for two further 20-lap races at The Bend tomorrow.
