Kostecki claims Race 9 pole as timing glitch wreaks havoc

There were confused faces up and down pit lane as timing issues left teams and drivers flying blind.

Supercars’ own timing showed Q1 pace-setter Will Davison had the quickest time. However, his lap hadn’t been scratched between Q1 and Q2.

The same was true for most of the cars, who failed to improve between Q1 and Q2. Timing failed to scratch the Q1 times meaning much of the top 10 runners had their best time from Q1 show up during Q2.

That issue presented itself in Qualifying for Race 8, and there remain questions over the final result of that session too.

Supercars’ own coverage was bereft of any timing totem, leaving commentators Mark Skaife and Neil Crompton just as confused.

In an effort to work around the issue, the broadcast eventually started showing one team’s make-shift timing screen.

“Nice job. I don’t know where we are because there’s no timing, but that looked pretty good,” Andrew Edwards radioed to Will Brown as he crossed the finish line to go fifth fastest at the end of the session.

Supercars race director James Taylor told all teams that the results of Qualifying for Race 9 would be verified post-session.

Going by the Supercars broadcast, it was Kostecki ahead of Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert and Triple Eight’s Broc Feeney. Will Davison was fourth for Dick Johnson Racing ahead of Brown.

Tickford Racing’s Cameron Waters was sixth ahead of Grove Racing pair Matthew Payne and Kai Allen in seventh and eighth. The top 10 was rounded out by Team 18’s Anton De Pasquale and Thomas Randle for Tickford Racing.

“Stoked with that one,” said Kostecki.

“It wasn’t the cleanest lap at the end, but we were able to be just a bit better when we only had two sets of tyres.

“We just saved those sets on that quali there. Just a big thank you to the Shell V-Power Racing Team. We don’t have Dick [Johnson] and Jilly [Johnson] here this weekend, so hey guys, I’m sure you’re watching from the couch, and Doc [Ryan Story] as well.

“Stoked for the whole team. Got a couple of good grid spots today so I’m looking to trying to capitalise on those.”

Q1 was a fascinating affair. Some cars elected to complete one run while those outside the top 10 were forced to back up.

Davison topped Q1 with a 1:26.2526s ahead of teammate Kostecki, who completed just one flying lap. Payne was another one of those to do one run and was third fastest. Mostert also made it into the top 10 with a one-lap effort.

Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Ryan Wood wasn’t able to back up his Race 8 Qualifying effort, only qualifying 12th for Race 9.

“It’s a bit of an Achilles heel on car #2 at the moment,” said Wood.

“It is what it is. I made a bit of a mistake on my lap. All in all, it’s so tight. Even that first quali, I was pretty frustrated. I felt like we had more in it.

“It’s one of those things. At the end of the day, I’m disappointed with 12th, we’re making inroad on where we need to be.

“We were disappointed with fourth in the first quali so it’s shown what we’re expecting as a team and out of my car now, which is a positive.”

Brad Jones Racing continued its struggles. Again, all four of its cars failed to make the top 10.

Kai Allen was the biggest improver after qualifying 22nd in the session prior.

Results: Repco Supercars Championship ITM Taupo Super440, Qualifying Race 9