Kostecki wins chaotic Supercars Race 4 under Safety Car

Erebus Motorsport’s Brodie Kostecki has won Race 4 of the Repco Supercars Championship under the second Safety Car period of an altogether chaotic encounter.

Kostecki seized the lead during the drama which developed upon the first restart, and then time-certainty set in after he had completed his compulsory pit stop, during which time the #99 Coca-Cola Camaro had retained first position.

The victory is his first ever in the Supercars Championship, with Tickford Racing’s James Courtney (#5 Snowy River Caravans Mustang) second and pole-sitter Shane van Gisbergen (#97 Red Bull Ampol Camaro) rounding out the podium.

Pit lane exit and the start sequence was delayed by about 10 minutes due to an incident-littered FIA Formula 3 Qualifying session, and that was hardly the end of the mayhem at Albert Park.

Light rain on the formation lap saw the race declared wet for the second day in a row, and then a start light failure meant it got underway with the drop of the Australian flag.

Brown (#9 Coca-Cola Camaro) was the only driver on the first two rows to start on the hard compound but, ironically, he got the jump on van Gisbergen from the other side of the track and led the field out of Turn 1.

Van Gisbergen also came under attack from Brown’s team-mate Kostecki as they ran through the opening corners, but then the latter found himself on the outside through Turn 5 and had to work hard to prevent Broc Feeney (#88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro) from pinching third.

A Safety Car was called by the end of the lap because David Reynolds (#26 Penrite Mustang) had sailed off at Turn 1 and become buried in the gravel trap, although whether he was helped by Cameron Waters (#6 Monster Energy Mustang) was inconclusive from replays, and the matter will be investigated post-race.

Meanwhile, Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Nick Percat stopped in pit lane with fire from the left-front corner of the #2 Mobil 1 NTI Mustang, although he was able to get out unharmed.

When the race restarted on Lap 4, van Gisbergen immediately began harassing Brown and the pack got all bunched up through the Lakeside Stadium car park.

Both of the Triple Eight Race Engineering Camaros got held wide by both of the Erebus Camaros as they ran two-by-two, the net result being that Erebus emerged with the lead.

However, said lead was in the hands of the super soft-shod Kostecki, who slipped down the inside of Brown, while both Courtney and Chaz Mostert (#25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang) also passed van Gisbergen and Feeney.

Brown was in at the end of that lap to get rid of his hard tyres and Mostert stopped a lap later, but was able to stay on super softs and take just two fresh tyres due to the wet track declaration.

When Jack Le Brocq whacked the wall on Lakeside Drive and the #34 Truck Assist Camaro came to a stop, another Safety Car was called on Lap 7.

The rest of the field pitted at the end of that lap, after which there was just one more before they took the chequered flag, barely halfway into what was originally scheduled as a 15-lap affair.

Behind the podium of Kostecki, Courtney, and van Gisbergen was Feeney, Mostert, Anton De Pasquale (#11 Shell V-Power Mustang), Brown, Bryce Fullwood (#14 Middy’s Camaro), Thomas Randle (#55 Castrol Mustang), and James Golding (#31 Nulon Camaro).

Mark Winterbottom (#18 DeWalt Camaro) finished 11th after two visits to pit lane and Macauley Jones (#96 Pizza Hut Camaro) likewise got home in 14th.

Will Davison (#17 Shell V-Power Mustang) finished 13th, Waters 21st after losing time in the opening corner incident with Reynolds, and Reynolds himself a lap down in 23rd.

Mostert continues to lead the drivers’ championship, but with an even slimmer margin over Kostecki.

Next up is Qualifying for Race 5 and Qualifying for Race 6, tomorrow from 09:05 local time/AEDT.

Results: Race 4, Beaurepaires Melbourne SuperSprint Updated

Fastest lap (no bonus): Scott Pye, 1:48.1818, Lap 6

Drivers’ championship Updated

Teams’ championship Updated