The first round of the Ryco Enduro Cup at The Bend helped two more drivers formally book their spots in the post-season – Chaz Mostert and Brodie Kostecki.
Given Broc Feeney, Matt Payne, Will Brown and Cam Waters were all mathematically qualified after Ipswich, there are just four spots not decided.
Kostecki locked away his finals spot with victory at The Bend, the reigning Bathurst 1000 winner admitting it was a relief to get it squared away.
“Thank F for that,” laughed Kostecki. “I wasn’t worried, but it’s great to be locked into the finals.”
Behind the ‘safe six’ it’s a relatively tight battle for the remaining spots ahead of the Bathurst 1000, after which the top 10 will be locked in for finals.
Anton De Pasquale held onto seventh and would need the four drivers directly behind him to comprehensively outscore him at the Bathurst 1000 to fall out of contention.
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Ryan Wood was the best of the at-danger group at The Bend, moving from ninth to eighth in the standings courtesy of a sixth place finish.
Thomas Randle moved from 10th to ninth, while the biggest winner was Kai Allen who went from 11th to 10th despite a somewhat underwhelming 15th at The Bend.
That was because Andre Heimgartner and Declan Fraser had a shocker, their race undone early with clutch issues and steering damage during Fraser’s stint.
Just outside the bubble, Nick Percat jumped teammate Cam Hill for 12th behind Heimgartner.
BATTLE FOR THE FINALS
7. Anton De Pasquale – 1308
8. Ryan Wood – 1274
9. Thomas Randle – 1216
10. Kai Allen – 1135
11. Andre Heimgartner – 1117
12. Nick Percat – 1098
13. Cam Hill – 1084
14. Jack Le Brocq – 965
15. Bryce Fullwood – 943
16. James Golding – 915
17. Will Davison – 868
18. David Reynolds – 861
Who is leading the Supercars Enduro Cup?
Not only is Kostecki now locked into finals thanks to his win at The Bend, but he’s also best-placed to score the 25 bonus points for winning the Ryco Enduro Cup.
Kostecki heads to the Bathurst 1000 on top of the enduro standings, with this portion of the season limited to the two long-distance races.
One potential – if unlikely – fly in the ointment is Cooper Murray. He and Jobe Stewart finished seventh at The Bend, which means they are not out of the picture for the Enduro Cup.
As it stands Murray is 402 points off the finals cut-off, which means even winning Bathurst alone wouldn’t help him qualify.
Unless he wins the Enduro Cup and claims the golden ticket attached to it, which would bump the 10th-place driver out of finals.
RYCO ENDURO CUP STANDINGS
1. Brodie Kostecki/Todd Hazelwood – 300
2. Cam Waters/Mark Winterbottom – 276
3. Matt Payne/Garth Tander – 254
4. Will Brown/Scott Pye – 234
5. Nick Percat/Tim Slade – 215
6. Ryan Wood/Jayden Ojeda – 198
7. Cooper Murray/Jobe Stewart – 182
8. Chaz Mostert/Fabian Coulthard – 167
9. Thomas Randle/James Moffat – 154
10. Anton De Pasquale/Harri Jones – 142
11. Cam Hill/Cam McLeod – 130
12. Jack Le Brocq/Jarrod Hughes – 120
13. David Reynolds/Lee Holdsworth – 110
14. Macauley Jones/Jordan Boys – 101
15. Kai Allen/Dale Wood – 93
16. Craig Lowndes/Zach Bates – 86
17. James Courtney/Jack Perkins – 79
18. Jaxon Evans/Jack Smith – 73
19. Broc Feeney/Jamie Whincup – 67
20. Bryce Fullwood/Brad Vaughan – 62
21. Will Davison/Tony D’Alberto – 57
22. Lochie Dalton/Rylan Gray – 52
23. Richie Stanaway/Nash Morris – 48
24. Aaron Cameron/Zak Best – 44
25. James Golding/David Russell – 41
26. Cameron Crick/Aaron Seton – 37
27. Andre Heimgartner/Declan Fraser – 34
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