Brodie Kostecki is not taking for granted that he will clinch pole position for the Repco Bathurst 1000 despite his sizzling pace thus far.
Consistent with his status as the Repco Supercars Championship leader, the Erebus Motorsport driver smashed the field by six tenths of a second in the final practice session before qualifying.
Team-mate Will Brown denied Kostecki pole position last time out at Sandown but a prang at Griffins Bend prevented him from making the one-lap dash at Mount Panorama, meaning the West Australian must be considered the favourite in the Shootout.
Asked by Speedcafe if he expected a genuine fight for pole, Kostecki suggested his and co-driver David Russell’s weekend thus far has not been as easy as it may appear from the outside.
“I think nothing comes easy in the sport,” he stated.
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“We’ve sort of been pretty privileged this weekend so far. I’ve had a really fast car but there have been times throughout the session where it hasn’t been any good at all.
“So, just trying to keep up with the track conditions and that’s honestly been quite hard this weekend.
“The cars are very, very sensitive and the window’s very small, so hopefully we stay on top of it and hopefully we get it right for the Shootout.”
Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Shane van Gisbergen rescued a berth in the Shootout after a ragged day.
He is last year’s Great Race winner, and could become the biggest danger to Kostecki’s chances if he can tidy up his performance.
Kostecki, though, was unmoved when that theory was put to him.
“I’m racing everyone, not just him,” he stated.
Pressed on the SVG threat, he replied, “So far, these two guys [Golding and Anton De Pasquale, provisionally second and third on the grid] are my biggest threats at the moment.”
Kostecki’s dominance coincides with a particularly controversial weekend on the parity front, after Ford unsuccessfully sought to have a new aerodynamic package approved despite a formal parity review not having been triggered.
Ford Mustang driver De Pasquale asserted he will need a “miracle” to catch the #99 Camaro and implied that he does not believe the championship is in a state of parity, despite beating 13 other Camaros in qualifying.
Asked by Speedcafe what he made of the parity rumblings from the Blue Oval camp given his superiority even to other Camaro drivers, Kostecki largely played a straight bat, but did seem to make a pointed observation.
“To be honest, I don’t really know too much about it,” he replied.
“I don’t know, I haven’t driven a Ford, so I don’t know what they’re like.
“But we know that we have been probably one of the best Camaro teams all year, probably consistently, and very close to Triple Eight.
“The Fords, there’s been different teams up and down over the years, so yeah, that’s all I really know.
“I can’t really comment on parity and whatever.
“I don’t know, and so doesn’t anyone else.”
Practice 5, for co-drivers only, starts at 10:00 local time/AEDT.
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