Payne led the early laps until Kostecki completed a clean pass at Turn 11 on Lap 5.

The pair skipped way from eventual third place finisher Ryan Wood in the #2 Walkinshaw TWG Racing Supra, who brought Toyota its first Supercars podium in just its fifth race.

All told, Kostecki claimed his second straight victory over Payne by 0.5713s after 19 laps of the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit.

“Just another fantastic effort to everyone at Shell V-Power Racing,” said Kostecki.

“This Ford Mustang was on fire today and just a credit to everyone.

“They made some really good changes leading into that race and was really able to pace Matt at the start and knew I had a bit up my sleeve.

“I saw him make a few small errors and knew it was my time to pounce. He still kept me honest the whole way to the finish.

“They were probably the 19 fastest laps I’ve ever ran. Really cool, just really happy for everyone at Shell V-Power Racing.

“Just want to say g’day to Dick [Johnson] and Jilly [Johnson] watching at home, and Doc [Ryan Story] as well. It’s a pity they’re not here to witness this.

“Still got two more races to go and we’ll see how we go in qualifying tomorrow.”

From pole position, Payne got the jump on Kostecki to lead into Turn 1. The field got through the first two turns without trouble, but the same couldn’t be said for Turn 3.

For the second time in two days, Zach Bates was mired in the melee. This time, PremiAir Racing’s Jayden Ojeda got sandwiched between Bates and Erebus Motorsport’s Jobe Stewart. With Bates on the outside, his #10 Matt Stone Racing Camaro got tipped into a spin.

There was drama at the end of Lap 1 as Will Brown in the #888 Triple Eight Race Engineering Mustang locked up his rears under brakes trying to pass Cooper Murray for seventh and cast the #99 Erebus Motorsport Camaro off the road at Turn 11.

Brown fell to 15th and was given a 15-second penalty for the clash. Murray, meanwhile, dropped to 20th. He eventually finished one lap down while Brown’s penalty relegated him to 20th.

Triple Eight’s duo continued warring. This time, Broc Feeney in the #88 Triple Eight Mustang lunged Chaz Mostert’s #1 Walkinshaw TWG Racing Supra at Turn 11 on Lap 4 for fourth place.

Mostert closed the door on Feeney, and contact between them gave Aaron Cameron in the #3 Blanchard Racing Team Mustang a free kick to pass them both out of the tight right-hander.

There was no net gain for Feeney while Mostert dropped from fourth to seventh as he slid through the gravel trap as he lost out to Cameron, Feeney, and Jack Le Brocq in the #4 Matt Stone Racing Camaro.

On Lap 5, Kostecki made the decisive move for the race lead with a pass on Payne at Turn 11.

At the halfway mark, the biggest mover was Jayden Ojeda up eight places to 15th. Murray, meanwhile, was the biggest loser down 13 positions to 19th.

The contact between Mostert and Feeney left the #1 Walkinshaw Supra with steering damage, and he found himself battling just to stay in the top 10.

There was drama on Lap 10 when Feeney tried to put a pass on Cameron at the penultimate turn but locked up his rears and slide into the side of the #3 BRT Mustang.

Feeney cast Cameron well wide. The #88 Triple Eight Mustang appeared to redress but copped a whack from the #3 BRT Mustang for his troubles.

Moments later, Kai Allen in the #26 Grove Racing came upon the scene and passed Feeney before trying to capitalise on a slow Cameron. However, the BRT driver closed the door and the pair made contact, spinning them both.

Allen quickly spun himself while Cameron had to watch and wait as the field blew by. Ultimately, Cameron brought his car back into the pit lane with exhaust damage and returned to the race two laps down.

After all that, Feeney was still fourth, but seemed to be carrying some wounds as Le Brocq and Waters rounded him up on Lap 13.

Wood went off the road between Turn 9 and 10. However, with no threat from behind, he maintained third position.

The war over ninth was an epic one led by Brown who led a quartet of cars all eager to get by.

With five laps to go, Cameron Hill in the #14 Brad Jones Racing Supra centre-punched the back of Brown’s #888 Triple Eight Mustang. Smoke began to billow from Brown’s car as it rubbed on the rear wheels.

Macauley Jones went off at Turn 11 in the #96 Brad Jones Racing Supra thanks to a hit from Jobe Stewart’s #9 Erebus Camaro, who was pushed long into the corner by David Reynolds in the #20 Team 18 Camaro. Stewart finished 22nd with damage to his front left corner.

Payne looked like he might have enough to pressure Kostecki but ultimately came up half a second short at the end.

“I probably didn’t quite have the stuff in the car we needed,” said Payne.

“Just felt a little under done for the first few laps and just didn’t quite have enough to cover Brodie off.

“He was pretty quick and then it felt like the balance came to me towards the end. A little bit disappointed.

“Starting off first, you always want to finish first. Good consistency with us finishing second. A little bit bittersweet.

“We were pushing pretty hard and obviously there was still quite a few laps to go. I was a little bit worried if we were going to have enough tyre for the end.

“I was always going to try keep him honest as much as I could. Our race was done once he got past unfortunately.”

Supercars continues on Saturday with qualifying at 9:00am AEDT to determine the grid for Race 3 and Race 4 of the Melbourne SuperSprint.

Results: Repco Supercars Championship Melbourne SuperSprint, Race 2