A jovial Kostecki landed a trio of cheeky sledges on Triple Eight co-owner and co-driver Whincup during a press conference following Saturday’s Top 10 Shootout at The Bend 500.
There was a playful nod to Whincup’s lack of recent race mileage, a subtle reference to his crash during a Safety Car trial in Saturday practice and a cheeky throwback to the 2020 Bathurst 1000.
The last of those came in the form of an offer of advice for Matt Stone Racing co-driver Cam McLeod, who today faces the prospect of sharing the front-row with Whincup.
“If you want any advice on how to race the GOAT, just ask me, mate,” said Kostecki to McLeod, who is making just his third Supercars start. “I’ve got plenty of tricks from The Cutting.”
Kostecki announced his arrival as a Supercars star of the future when he went head-to-head with Whincup into The Cutting during the 2020 Great Race.
Whincup misjudged an attempted overtake on the outside of the then Erebus co-driver and crashed out.
The following year marked the last full-time season for Whincup and the first for Kostecki, who went on to win the championship in 2023 and conquer the Bathurst 1000 last year.
McLeod is part of a newer breed again – the 20-year-old now thrust into the spotlight thanks to Cam Hill’s efforts to put the #4 MSR Camaro second on the grid.
“I never really thought I’d be sharing the front-row with Jamie,” said Super2 star McLeod.
“It’ll be super cool, but obviously whoever is starting the race, it’s just my job to get off the line good, do my best into Turn 1 and give Cam the car in relatively good shape.”
Whincup, 42, was a little sheepish following his Saturday morning spill, taking the ribbing from Kostecki in good fun and politely declining to offer McLeod any advice.
“I’m asking him for advice at the moment, I haven’t had the proudest day,” said the seven-time Supercars champion.
The post-Shootout banter underlined the smorgasbord of extra storylines provided by the addition of the co-drivers to the field in the Enduro Cup.
A recent rule change has allowed teams to start their co-drivers this year, while tweaks to minimum lap requirements and fuel tank capacity mean they’ll play a greater role in the race.
Whincup partners 2025 dominator Broc Feeney in the #88 Red Bull Camaro, while Kostecki shares the #38 Shell Ford with Todd Hazelwood having both switched from Erebus for 2025.
“I think we saw in some of the co-driver practices there’s a fair bit of field spread,” noted Kostecki, who qualified third in the Saturday Shootout.
“It’ll be interesting to see how the start goes. It’s great to have co-drivers starting again. It’s going to be pretty cool watching Toddy drag these guys off the line and just flog them into Turn 1.”
A morning warm-up session at 9:30am ACST will complete preparation for the inaugural AirTouch 500 at The Bend, which will take place from 1:45pm.
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