Kostecki scores provisional pole for Adelaide opener, SVG fourth

Repco Supercars Championship leader Brodie Kostecki has provisionally qualified on pole position for the penultimate race of the season, at the Vailo Adelaide 500.

Kostecki topped Qualifying for Race 27 by a margin of 0.0112s and will be last onto the race track for tomorrow afternoon’s Top 10 Shootout in the #99 Coca-Cola Camaro.

David Reynolds was second-quickest and his Penrite Racing team-mate Matt Payne just another 0.0169s slower again in their Mustangs.

Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Shane van Gisbergen, Kostecki’s only remaining title rival, ended up fourth on the timesheet in the #97 Red Bull Ampol Camaro.

Despite the threat of a nearby weather system, skies were in fact somewhat sunny over the Adelaide Parklands Circuit when the session started at 17:35 local time.

Van Gisbergen waited until the end of the queue to go out and it was Kostecki setting the fastest first flyer, a 1:19.3871s which was less than a tenth of a second slower than Thomas Randle’s (#55 Castrol Mustang) Practice 2 benchmark.

By the end of the first runs, however, it was a Grove Racing one-two with Payne (#19 Mustang) on a 1:19.0741s and Reynolds (#26 Mustang) a somewhat traffic-affected 1:19.1683s on their second flying laps.

Van Gisbergen had been only eighth initially but rose to third with a 1:19.2133s, two positions ahead of Kostecki on a 1:19.3440s, by the time he returned to the pits.

Will Brown (#9 Coca-Cola Camaro) was on a two-stop strategy and crept up to fourth on a 1:19.2652s as everyone else sat in pit lane waiting to go for their second runs.

Kostecki had been shuffled to seventh by the time he got back up to second position on a 1:19.1402s in the final minute before the chequered flag.

With the flag unfurled, Randle jumped seven positions to fifth on a 1:19.2261s, bumping Will Davison (#17 Shell V-Power Mustang) out of the top 10.

Van Gisbergen improved his time but not his position in setting a 1:19.2084s before Reynolds stole top spot off Payne with a 1:19.0572s.

However, almost as soon as he had done so, Reynolds himself was usurped by Kostecki, who could unofficially seal the title tomorrow afternoon in Race 27.

The provisional top five on the starting grid is thus Kostecki, Reynolds, Payne, van Gisbergen, and Randle, with Anton De Pasquale (#11 Shell V-Power Mustang) sixth from Brown, Chaz Mostert (#25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang), Cam Waters (#43 Monster Energy Mustang), and James Golding (#31 Nulon Camaro).

Broc Feeney (#88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro) ended up 11th, picking up a kerb hop on his penultimate lap and then falling just 0.0481s shy of the top 10 on his very last lap.

Davison ended up 12th, from Nick Percat (#2 Mobil 1 NTI Mustang), Todd Hazelwood (#3 Redarc Mustang), Jack Le Brocq (#34 Truck Assist Camaro), James Courtney (#5 Snowy River Caravans Mustang), and Andre Heimgartner (#8 R&J Batteries Camaro).

Practice 3 takes place tomorrow at 09:45 local time/10:15 AEDT, followed by the Top 10 Shootout for Race 27 later in the day.

Results: Qualifying for Race 27, Vailo Adelaide 500