Kostecki shows he’s one to beat
Brodie Kostecki beat James Golding in thrilling qualifying at the Bathurst
1000, with Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen stealing a Top Ten Shootout berth after Will Brown crashed yesterday.
Championship leader Kostecki was again the class act of the field as drivers breached the 2:04s barrier, with the No 99 Coca-Cola Camaro quickest with a 2:04.6644s.
Kostecki was trailed by surprise packet Golding, who clocked a
2:04.8133s to seal a Shootout berth for Nulon Racing.
Anton De Pasquale (No 11 Shell V-Power Mustang), Golding and Kostecki will be the final three cars to go out this afternoon, with the Top Ten Shootout to complete the grid for tomorrow’s Great Race.
“We’ve had a great time since we rolled out,” said Kostecki, who paced Practice 4 yesterday morning.
“I feel like we’re executed really well up until this point, but it’s only Friday, there’s two more days to go.
“It’s crucial to roll out comfortable, these cars are really hard to drive, they’re quite tricky with less aero. Big credit to George [Commins, race engineer], he puts in a lot of effort on the program for car 99.”
While Camaros filled the top two positions, Mustangs scored six of the
10 Shootout berths, with Cam Waters (No 6 Monster Energy Mustang) fourth ahead of Broc Feeney (No 88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro).
Feeney’s teammate van Gisbergen had it all to do at the death, with the reigning champion jumping from 13th to seventh as the chequered flag flew.
David Reynolds (No 26 Penrite Racing) was sixth, with teammate Matt Payne (No 19 Penrite Mustang), Chaz Mostert (No 25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang) and Will Davison (No 17 Shell V-Power Mustang) rounding out the top 10.
Mostert moved from 10th to eighth despite a scare on approach to Skyline, cementing his Shootout spot, before being dropped to ninth as van Gisbergen rescued his afternoon with a 2:05.1823s.
Thomas Randle (No 55 Castrol Mustang) was the unlucky driver in 11th, missing out by 0.0948s after being bumped by van Gisbergen.
Before a lap was turned in anger, red flags were flown twice after Brown and Declan Fraser crashed at Griffins Bend and Reid Park respectively.
Brown returned to the track after rapid repairs by Erebus Motorsport, but returned to pit lane as cars completed their final laps, with the No 9 Coca-Cola Camaro 17th.