Kostecki wins spicy Supercars Race 18 at Sydney SuperNight

Brodie Kostecki has prevailed in Race 18 at the Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight after pole-sitter Andre Heimgartner’s attempt to win with a one-stop strategy was brought undone by a Safety Car.

Kostecki and Heimgartner emerged as the two real contenders for victory midway through the only night race of this year’s Repco Supercars Championship and it appeared that the latter was in the ascendancy as the second pit stop cycle started at at Sydney Motorsport Park.

However, a Safety Car to recover a stricken David Reynolds with 16 laps of 51 to go brought Brad Jones Racing’s #8 R&J Batteries entry undone and gifted the lead to Erebus Motorsport’s #99 Coca-Cola Camaro.

There was even greater drama in the closing stages when Cameron Waters (#6 Monster Energy Mustang), who was running second, was issued a five-second penalty for an unsafe release and blew up over his radio in response.

On the third-last lap, Will Brown attacked Waters but Chaz Mostert (#25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang) and then Shane van Gisbergen (#97 Red Bull Ampol Camaro) bought into the battle.

The four of them attacked each other but it was Mostert who ultimately took second place, while Waters was third to the line but relegated to sixth once the penalty was applied.

It looked as though van Gisbergen had inherited the final podium position but then he too was slapped with a five-second penalty after peppering the rear of Brown’s #9 Coca-Cola Camaro on the final lap.

As it stands, the classification is thus Kostecki, Mostert, Brown, Jack Le Brocq (#34 Truck Assist Camaro), Waters, Tim Slade (#23 Nulon Camaro), van Gisbergen, Bryce Fullwood (#14 Middy’s Camaro), Mark Winterbottom (#18 DeWalt Camaro), and Scott Pye (#20 Hino Camaro) in 10th.

Broc Feeney (#88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro) finished 11th from 16th on the grid while Heimgartner ended up 14th, ahead of Shell V-Power Racing Team duo Anton De Pasquale (#11 Mustang) and Will Davison (#17 Mustang).

The result means Kostecki has reclaimed the drivers’ championship lead from team-mate Brown, by a margin of 14 points.

When the lights went out, Heimgartner was slow away from pole position, with Kostecki leading Brown to the first corner.

Waters took up third before Cameron Hill (#35 Truck Assist Camaro) went under Heimgartner and into fourth at Bond Bend (Turn 2).

Heimgartner, whose #8 R&J Batteries Camaro underwent a pre-race steering rack change, continued to drop spot, to Le Brocq at Turn 2 and then to James Golding (#31 Nulon Camaro) at Turn 6 on Lap 3.

Meanwhile, van Gisbergen, who qualified 20th, had passed Triple Eight Race Engineering team-mate Feeney for 17th at the end of Lap 2 and continued his gradual climb towards the top 10.

With 10 laps in the books, Kostecki led Brown by 0.5s and Waters by another 1.4s, while Le Brocq and Golding had cleared Hill to run fourth and fifth.

When Heimgartner tried to also pass Hill on Lap 11, he got held wide exiting Turn 3 and Mostert capitalised, pinching seventh position.

Mostert was sixth with a daring move past Hill as they swept into Moffat Corner (Turn 1) on Lap 12, and van Gisbergen was up to 10th, albeit effectively 11th, when Hill pitted on Lap 13.

Kostecki had stretched his lead beyond four seconds when Brown pitted on Lap 17 and was followed into the lane by Waters, at a car length back, as well as Le Brocq and van Gisbergen.

Tickford Racing opted to fill Waters slightly shorter than Brown, at an estimated 31 litres versus 35, and Car #6 exited the pits just ahead of Car #9.

Mostert stopped a lap later and then it was Kostecki into the lane on Lap 19, with Car #99 resuming in fourth position at less than two seconds ahead of Waters, but having also taken on an estimated 35 litres of fuel.

Davison had assumed the lead and Heimgartner ran second, but it became apparent that possibly the former and certainly the latter were working to a one-stop strategy.

Davison only ran to Lap 22 before pitting but Reynolds (#26 Penrite Mustang) pressed on to Lap 24 and then Heimgartner to Lap 25, as near as possible to half race distance.

The pole-sitter was almost 27 seconds up on Kostecki when he peeled off and resumed in 21st position, over 43 seconds behind the #99 Erebus entry but possibly in the effective lead given his only stop was over and done with.

Kostecki’s official lead with 26 laps to go was just under two seconds over Waters, from Brown, Le Brocq, Pye, James Courtney (#5 Snowy River Caravans Mustang), Golding, Mostert, van Gisbergen in ninth, Hill, and Feeney in 11th.

Mostert and van Gisbergen were on a relative charge, picking off Courtney at Bond Bend on consecutive laps to sit sixth and seventh on Lap 29.

The second pit stop cycle soon started, while Heimgartner was issued a bad sportsmanship flag for track limits breaches.

Far worse was to come for the #8 BJR pilot when, moments later, Reynolds stopped in the infield near the final complex of corners for reasons not clear.

The Safety Car was held off for a little while although most opted to dive into the lane, presumably in expectation that it would come, and indeed it eventually was called on Lap 35.

By then, just Kostecki, Mostert, and van Gisbergen still needed to pit, and duly did, but they were followed into the lane by Heimgartner from fourth position.

Kostecki retained the lead upon exit, from Waters, Brown, Le Brocq, Mostert, Pye, van Gisbergen, Courtney, Hill, and Slade in 10th, with Feeney 14th.

Heimgartner, who had been cruelled by the Safety Car, sat 15th ahead of the restart at the end of Lap 38 and Davison was 17th in Car #17.

Mostert wasted no time in barging his way past Le Brocq for fourth at Turn 4, before van Gisbergen went under Pye for sixth at Turn 6 on the restart lap.

As Race Control announced an investigation into Car #6 for an alleged unsafe release, van Gisbergen picked off Le Brocq for fifth at Corporate Hill on Lap 40.

Then came confirmation of a five-second penalty for Waters, which demoted Car #6 from second place to an effective seventh as they ran.

On Lap 45, Kostecki’s lead over Waters had grown beyond a full second, but the relevant figure was the 1.5s gap to third-placed Brown.

On Lap 49, the battle over second place exploded.

Brown made a forceful attempt to pass Waters at Bond Bend but could not complete the move by the time they arrived at Turn 4 at the bottom of the hill.

It was in fact three-wide for that right-hander, with Mostert going down the inside of both, before they and van Gisbergen ran through Turn 6 and around Corporate Hill in rows of two.

Mostert emerged in second place, from Waters, Brown, and van Gisbergen, but that was far from the end of the action.

Van Gisbergen hit the rear of Brown on the final lap at Turn 8 and then overtook as they ran towards Turn 9, with the latter saying on his radio, “I’m just going to let him go.”

A five-second penalty was issued against Car #97 after the chequered flag had flown.

Qualifying for Race 19 starts tomorrow at 12:35 local time/AEST.

CLICK HERE for Race 18 Results

Drivers’ championship

Teams’ championship