Barry Ryan has set a new goal for Erebus Motorsport and champion-elect Brodie Kostecki in the final race of the 2023 Supercars season.
That is, to win the championship by 150 points and nullify any talk that Triple Eight Race Engineering missed out on the drivers’ title because of the Newcastle disqualification.
Shane van Gisbergen started the Vailo Adelaide 500 weekend as an unlikely chance at a third straight drivers’ crown given he trailed Kostecki by 131 points, less than the 150 he lost when his victory in Race 1 of the season was scratched over the illegally mounted ice box.
It is one of two boxes left for the Coca-Cola Camaro squad to tick in 2023, the other being the teams’ championship title.
That is a closer contest in relative and absolute terms but, with Erebus 161 points to the good relative to Triple Eight, it is in the box seat for a championship double.
“It’s great, it’s ticked the boxes and for Brodie to get pole was amazing,” Ryan told Speedcafe of Kostecki’s drivers’ title triumph.
“It shows that he’s willing to put it on the line, but then in the race to be smart enough to go, ‘I’m not going to race these guys; just finish where I can finish.’
“The car wasn’t as nice as he wanted it to be, so he finished where he could finish. He could have come last and still won the championship.
“It’s really good, but now we’re greedy. Our aim has been to beat Triple Eight by 150 points, because we don’t want them saying, ‘If we didn’t get disqualified…’
“He’s [Kostecki] now two hundred-and-something ahead, so if we can tick that box, and win teams’ [championship]…
“We’ve got a good shot at the teams’ now – it’s still 161 points – so we’d have to mess it up.
“So, if we can tick those boxes [today], that’s my greed-fest done.”
Triple Eight managed to snip only nine points from Erebus’s teams’ championship lead in Race 27 when Broc Feeney passed Kostecki for fifth position in the closing stages.
With van Gisbergen crashing into the other Erebus entry of Will Brown in some opening-lap bump and grind, it was going to take something remarkable for the three-time champion’s hopes of a fourth to remain alive for another day.
The chances of that something remarkable increased when Feeney caught Kostecki with five laps to go, but Triple Eight decided not to tell him to stay behind Car #99 to try and cause a nuisance.
For Kostecki to ensure he finishes more than 150 points ahead of van Gisbergen in the championship, he would need only finish 12th (69 points) today.
On the flipside, van Gisbergen must finish at least ninth (84 points) to force Kostecki to score points in order to protect the 150-plus margin.
As for the teams’ championship, Erebus needs another 128 points to put that beyond doubt, which could be achieved by, say, a single third place finish (129 points), or a 12th (69) plus a 15th (60).
Additional reporting: Andrew van Leeuwen
Brodie Kostecki’s road to a 150-point championship victory
| van Gisbergen Race 28 finish position | Kostecki minimum result |
| 1 | 12 |
| 2 | 16 |
| 3 | 19 |
| 4 | 22 |
| 5 | 25 |
| 6 | 25 |
| 7 | 25 |
| 8 | 25 |
| 9 | 25 |
| 10 | DNF |
Erebus Motorsport’s minimum results to guarantee teams’ championship
Scenario: Triple Eight finishes one-two in Race 28
| Erebus lead car finish | Erebus second car result |
| 3 | DNF |
| 4 | 25 |
| 5 | 25 |
| 6 | 25 |
| 7 | 24 |
| 8 | 22 |
| 9 | 20 |
| 10 | 18 |
| 11 | 16 |
| 12 | 15 |
| 13 | 14 |
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