Kostecki and teammate Will Davison shook down their new Dick Johnson Racing Mustangs at Queensland Raceway ahead of next week’s trip to Sydney for a full-field test and the opening round.
The team undertook the maximum permitted 60km of running per car over more than four hours, spending long periods in the garage between runs.
Kostecki did not hit the track until 10:15am local time and was spotted diving under the bonnet as the team performed last-minute steering checks this morning.
The driver, however, said the day went entirely to plan.
“The team have done a fantastic job,” Kostecki told Speedcafe. “The car ran faultlessly, didn’t have one issue. We just went through our day.
“It was a slow day doing 60 kilometres but we got through our program of what we wanted to do and we’re stoked with how it turned out.”
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The key question, of course, is how the Mustang compares to the Camaro.
Kostecki has shifted from Erebus Motorsport to DJR with two of the former team’s engineers, while the Ford squad has also adopted the Chevrolet team’s chassis supplier.
It’s a move that could well put the Gen3 parity debate to bed, although Kostecki says there’s not much to report just yet.
“That’s the big burning question, to be honest. I think it’s pretty hard to tell today,” he said of how the cars compare.
“The last time I drove here was a ride day in the Camaro and we didn’t really run on very good tyres today, it’s more about going through the processes.
“But it is a fair bit different. It took a little bit to get my head around it, but I was feeling pretty confident by the end of the day.
“I’m looking forward to Sydney.”
Kostecki was joined at the shakedown by co-driver Todd Hazelwood, who has also transferred from Erebus to DJR for 2025.
“He didn’t get to jump in and have any laps, but it was more so him being around, listening to my feedback, listening to the differences in the car,” explained Kostecki of Hazelwood.
“He’ll take all those notes onboard when he drives it for the first time next week as well. He’ll come down to Sydney and get to do a few laps.”
The full-field test on Wednesday February 19 looms as an important day for Kostecki and DJR as they look to make a flying start to the season.
“We’re running on a brand-new tyre for the first time so I think everyone is really eager to chuck those new boots on and really have a crack,” he said of the test.
“For us it was just getting through our plan today, but we’ll go back to the workshop, go through today and see what we can do better for next week.”
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