Brodie Kostecki won the Repco Supercars Championship opener at Albert Park for Dick Johnson Racing, defeating Grove Racing’s Matt Payne by half a second.

The last Ford driver to win at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix was DJR Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin in Race 4 of the 2019 Melbourne 400.

With victory, Kostecki broke a six-year drought.

It was a dominant display for the Blue Oval, with the Mustang locking out the top four spots – the podium completed by Payne and Triple Eight Race Engineering driver Broc Feeney.

For Kostecki, it was a welcomed result on a day when illness got the better of him during qualifying and meant he vomited en route to Race 1 pole position.

“I’ve had better days, but the last time I felt like this I won a race at The Mountain,” said Kostecki post-race.

“It seems to be a bit of a coincidence. When I seem to feel a bit unwell I seem to drive a bit better, so who knows.

“I think a champagne shower is going to make me feel a lot better,” he added.

“The team will really enjoy third. I’ve got to thank everybody at Shell V-Power Racing.

“The Shell V-Power Ford Mustang has been on song today. I need a little bit more in race trim. Matty was breathing down my neck there towards the end, but stoked with how the weekend started so far.

“Two front row starts, one step closer to the LP (Larry Perkins) Trophy. We’ll go again tomorrow and see how we stack up.”

At the start, Kostecki got a clean getaway to get the holeshot into Turn 1. Behind him, Feeney got a strong start to usurp James Golding at the first turn.

At Turn 3, side-to-side contact between Andre Heimgartner (#800 Brad Jones Racing Toyota Supra) and Thomas Randle pushed the #55 Tickford Mustang into Kai Allen, whose #26 Grove Racing Mustang spun.

Zach Bates in the #10 Matt Stone Racing Camaro had to take evasive action through the gravel trap, and fell to the back of the field.

Payne was the hard charger early on. At the end of Lap 1, the #19 Grove Racing Mustang put a pass on Golding in the #7 Blanchard Racing Team Mustang at Turn 11.

That left Golding vulnerable to an attack from Chaz Mostert in the #1 Walkinshaw TWG Racing Supra, though the former PremiAir Racing driver put his elbows up and held fourth.

On Lap 3, Payne passed Feeney at the penultimate turn to take second.

On Lap 7, the Safety Car was called when Jackson Walls spun the #11 Triple Eight Race Engineering Mustang at Turn 11 and beached himself in the gravel trap.

Racing resumed on Lap 10 with Kostecki heading Payne, Feeney, Golding, and Mostert.

There was drama almost immediately as Aaron Cameron spun the #3 Blanchard Racing Team Mustang at Turn 3, dropping him from seventh to 23rd.

Kostecki, Payne, Feeney, and Golding skipped away from fifth-placed Mostert, who had Cameron Waters and Will Brown hot on his heels.

The final few laps were uneventful at the front of the pack. Kostecki kept Payne at bay by a few car lengths while Feeney clinched the final podium place.

Behind them, the battle between Mostert, Waters, Wood, and Brown culminated in Brown losing out to Wood.

Brown tried to pass Waters at Turn 5 on the last lap but compromised his run to Turn 6 and gave up seventh to Wood.

Payne has moved into the lead of the points with 328 to his name, ahead of Feeney (322 points) and Waters (287 points).

Race 2 of the Melbourne SuperSprint takes place on Friday at 5:30pm AEDT.

Results: Repco Supercars Championship Melbourne SuperSprint, Race 1