Jake Kostecki has matched brother Kurt’s feat of a day earlier in Townsville by qualifying on Armor All Pole Position for the first time in the Dunlop Super2 Series.
The younger of the Kostecki brothers stole top spot from Tim Blanchard by less than half a tenth of a second with the chequered flag out, relegating the Brad Jones Racing driver to the outside of the front row for Race 2 of Round 3.
Series leader Bryce Fullwood put his MW Motorsport Nissan onto Row 2, where he will be joined by Kurt Kostecki, who was 0.1622s slower than his sibling.
The Kosteckis were the first to go out for their second runs with Kurt immediately elevating himself from seventh to first courtesy of a 1:14.4441s in the #55 Triple Eight Race Engineering VF Commodore.
While he could find no subsequent improvement, Jake went from 11th to third on his first flyer on new tyres, then to second.
Despite a slide out of Turn 12 on his final lap, he ultimately took top spot with a 1:14.2819s in the #56 Kostecki Brothers Racing VF Commodore.
That effort pipped Blanchard’s (#77 VF Commodore) best by 0.0469s, while Fullwood was just 0.0037s slower again in the #16 Altima.
Brenton Grove (#10 VF Commodore) will line up a position behind team-mate Kurt Kostecki, with Zane Goddard putting the #28 MWM Altima sixth on the grid.
Rounding out the top 10 were Jack Smith (#21 BJR VF Commodore), Thomas Randle (#5 Tickford FGX Falcon), and rookies Dylan O’Keeffe (#44 Garry Rogers Motorsport VF Commodore) and Tyler Everingham (#27 MWM Altima).
Justin Ruggier topped the timing screen after the first runs with a 1:14.7262s in the #88 Eggleston Motorsport VF Commodore and that would prove to be his best as he ended up 12th.
His team-mates Jack Perkins (#54 VF Commodore) and Will Brown (#38 VF Commodore) finished in 13th and 15th respectively, while Ash Walsh was 16th in the #35 Matt Stone Racing VF Commodore.
A mid-session red flag for debris had no practical effect on proceedings given that all cars were either in pit lane or on their way back after their first runs.
Race 2, another 21-lapper, is scheduled for 1345 local time/AEST.
Results: Armor All Qualifying
Pos | Num | Team/Sponsor | Driver | Car | Fastest lap | Split |
1 | 56 | Team Arcoweld Racing | Jake Kostecki | Holden Commodore VF | 1:14.2819 | |
2 | 77 | Petronas Motorsport | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VF | 1:14.3288 | 0:00.0469 |
3 | 16 | Middy’s Electrical / MWM | Bryce Fullwood | Nissan Altima | 1:14.3325 | 0:00.0506 |
4 | 55 | Arcoweld Racing | Kurt Kostecki | Holden Commodore VF | 1:14.4441 | 0:00.1622 |
5 | 10 | Grove Hire Racing | Brenton Grove | Holden Commodore VF | 1:14.5410 | 0:00.2591 |
6 | 28 | BGD Architects / MWM | Zane Goddard | Nissan Altima | 1:14.5907 | 0:00.3088 |
7 | 21 | SCT Logistics | Jack Smith | Holden Commodore VF | 1:14.6008 | 0:00.3189 |
8 | 5 | Skye Sands | Thomas Randle | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:14.6713 | 0:00.3894 |
9 | 44 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Dylan O’Keeffe | Holden Commodore VF | 1:14.6946 | 0:00.4127 |
10 | 27 | Lowes Petoleum / MWM | Tyler Everingham | Nissan Altima | 1:14.7174 | 0:00.4355 |
11 | 15 | Image Racing | Adam Marjoram | Holden Commodore VF | 1:14.7177 | 0:00.4358 |
12 | 88 | Eggleston Motorsport | Justin Ruggier | Holden Commodore VF | 1:14.7262 | 0:00.4443 |
13 | 54 | Eggleston Motorsport | Jack Perkins | Holden Commodore VF | 1:14.7622 | 0:00.4803 |
14 | 49 | Image Racing | Jordan Boys | Holden Commodore VF | 1:14.8005 | 0:00.5186 |
15 | 38 | Eggleston Motorsport | William Brown | Holden Commodore VF | 1:14.8231 | 0:00.5412 |
16 | 35 | Matt Stone Racing | Ashley Walsh | Holden Commodore VF | 1:15.0724 | 0:00.7905 |
17 | 18 | Cavalier Homes Australia | Matthew Chahda | Ford Falcon FG/X | 1:15.2277 | 0:00.9458 |
18 | 99 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Mason Barbera | Holden Commodore VF | 1:15.2557 | 0:00.9738 |