Brodie Kostecki scores Bathurst 1000 pole position

The Chiko-backed Erebus Motorsport driver set a 2:05.5119s to pip Tickford Racing’s Cameron Waters to pole position.

Provisional pole position winner Matt Payne was only seventh for Grove Racing after he hit the wall out of Forrest’s Elbow.

It’s the second straight Bathurst 1000 that Kostecki will start the Great Race from pole position.

“I wasn’t sure if I was going to get it, it wasn’t the best lap I’ve done around here,” said Kostecki.

“The car’s been stellar all weekend, we’ve been trying to focus on ourselves, everyone in the whole crew has been working really hard, the car feels really good.

“We can’t start better than this, just heads down for tomorrow. It’s a long day, we’ve got to minimise mistakes and see how we go.”

BACK-TO-BACK FOR KOSTECKI 👏

Brodie Kostecki takes out the @boostaus Pole in the @RepcoAustralia Bathurst 1000!#RepcoSC #Supercars #Bathurst1000 pic.twitter.com/LM39ajsBM9

— Supercars (@supercars) October 12, 2024

Grove Racing’s Richie Stanaway was the first out and started the Shootout in style with a slide through Hell Corner. All told, it was a 2:05.9286s from the #26 Ford Mustang.

“It wasn’t the best lap but it was pretty solid so looking forward to seeing how everyone else goes,” said Stanaway.

“I’ve seen a lot of these shootouts from the other side of that camera. It feels quite surreal to be doing one.”

De Pasquale’s first sector was slower than Stanaway’s to the tune of two tenths and the gap stayed stable to the second sector. At the end of the lap, the Dick Johnson Racing driver slotted in behind, clocking a 2:06.2385s to be three tenths off the pace-setter.

“I made a meal of Turn 1 but the rest was pretty good,” said De Pasquale.

“Richie’s lap is pretty fast I think because it didn’t feel too bad. We’ll see what the others do but either way heaps of fun hooking around here at full noise.”

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Indeed, Stanaway’s time was pretty fast. He would end the session fourth.

Kostecki’s Erebus Motorsport teammate Jack Le Brocq had a ragged start to the lap, grazing the wall as he reached the top of The Mountain.

Across the line, Le Brocq slotted in between Stanaway and Anton De Pasquale on a 2:06.1827s.

“That’s one of those laps, I suppose,” said Le Brocq.

“You have a crack and put it all out there. Just didn’t quite get the tyre up. I’ve been struggling with that first lap pace on a cool car this weekend. It’s always cool to be in these ones.”

Andre Heimgartner’s long-awaited dream Top 10 Shootout debut turned into a nightmare when he locked up into Hell Corner and went off into the gravel.

“I feel like a bit of an idiot but that’s what you get,” said Heimgartner.

“The times out here are speedy so you have to push it sometimes and I just overstepped it. Bit of a stuff-up on my part.”

Mostert was slow to start, a sizable half a second away from Stanaway. The car looked loose as Mostert seesawed on the wheel.

At the finish line, the Walkinshaw Andretti United star was sixth tenths off Stanaway’s time with a 2:06.5411s to drop in behind De Pasquale.

“Just didn’t quite have it, to be honest,” said Mostert.

“Today we just missed the mark on pressures or something like that. We’ve been battling the car a bit. Definitely made it better but just not our day today.”

Stanaway continued to improve as Brown failed to pip the Grove Racing driver. His lap, a 2:06.1625s, put him 0.2s away and just behind the Kiwi.

“Just didn’t get it that good through The Cutting,” said Brown.

“First sector wasn’t great but from there my last sector wasn’t too bad. Managed to get P2. It feels fairly fast out here but I didn’t do the lap time I wanted.”

Stanaway was finally dethroned when Kostecki took to The Mountain.

The Erebus Motorsport driver was 0.064s slower to the first second and improved to the second sector to go 0.177s faster. At the start-finish line, Kostecki blitzed Stanaway’s time by 0.416s on a 2:05.5119s.

“I had a bit of a tyre vibration so was chattering my teeth down Conrod Straight there,” said Kostecki.

“We’ll see if it holds up.”

Broc Feeney’s time, a 2:05.8618s, was 0.3499s away from the time set by Kostecki.

“It’s all right. Brodie obviously did a good lap there. I just didn’t really maximise it,” said the Triple Eight Race Engineering driver.

“We’ve got a fast car, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Waters’ first sector was 0.045s under the best first sector and that because 0.018s to sector two. At the line, Waters slotted in behind Kostecki by 0.131s.

“I gave absolutely everything into that lap,” said Waters.

“My first sector wasn’t quite good enough. I’m really happy with how that lap finish. Probably a better car than yesterday.”

Payne’s first sector was 0.150s down and out of Forrest’s Elbow the young Kiwi hit the outside wall, losing three tenths of a second. That cost him dearly, ending the session seven tenths away to qualify seventh.

Supercars will have a warm-up at 8:15am AEDT on Sunday before the Bathurst 1000 begins at 11:30am AEDT.

Results: Repco Supercars Championship Repco Bathurst 1000, Top 10 Shootout