Brodie Kostecki to start Bathurst 1000 from pole position

Brodie Kostecki may only be in his third full Supercars season, but he’ll be the driver everyone has to beat at this year’s Bathurst 1000 after being the quickest in Saturday’s top 10 shootout at Mt Panorama.

The 25-year-old, who leads the championship, would move further ahead of Shane van Gisbergen if he wins on Sunday and depending on where the veteran Kiwi finishes, it could also give him one hand on the Supercars trophy.

Kostecki has been quick all through the practice sessions this week and even his partner David Russell, who isn’t regarded as one of the best co-drivers, has been fast.

Of course, there is 1000km between Kostecki and the chequered flag and his experience will be tested, but from what’s happened so far this week, it’s hard to see anyone beating the West Australian in the great race.

The shootout was as dramatic as ever, but throughout it there was the feeling that Kostecki would eventually go quicker than everyone else.

Will Davison was the first to do his solo lap and produced a time of 2.06.417s, but Chaz Mostert was next and half a second quicker.

Next came the two Kiwis, Matt Payne and Shane van Gisbergen. The 21-year-old Payne, who is qualifying at Bathurst for the first time, knocked 0.56s off Mostert’s lap to complete a lap in 2.05.269s.

But Van Gisbergen then went even quicker, just getting under the 2.05s barrier with 2.04.997s.

Dave Reynolds wasn’t able go faster than Van Gisbergen, but the Kiwi’s Triple Eight team-mate Broc Feeney could.

Neither Cam Waters, James Goulding or Anton De Pasquale could go faster than Feeney, but then came Kostecki, the last to do the shootout.

Even though he made a small mistake at the first corner, putting a wheel into the dirt, he made up for it in his ultrafast Erebus Camaro and was still able to go 0.48s quicker than Feeney for a time of 2.04.271.

Kostecki, isn’t yet a household name in Australia. That could all change by Sunday evening, but on Saturday night he was still keeping calm about what lies ahead.

I can’t really forecast what’s going to happen, but starting on pole, I hope I get a good start, we should be in a good spot, but anything can happen,” Kostecki said.

“Safety cars can come at awkward times and it depends on what strategies people are on.”

The Kiwis that didn’t have any involvement in the shootout were Andre Heimgartner, who qualified 13th on Friday, Fabian Coulthard, as his partner, Nick Percat was the 23rd quickest in qualifying, while Jack Smith, who has Jaxon Evans as his co-driver will begin the race 27th on the grid.

There’s a feeling along pitlane that while the Ford Mustangs have shown pace in qualifying, when they’re racing over 161 laps they’ll struggle and the parity issues will come to the fore.

Some have even predicted there won’t be a Ford on the same lap as the winner come the end of the race.

Of course, it’s speculation how slower the Mustangs will be to the Chevrolet Camaros, but it will be a factor.

Also having an impact this year will be the new Gen3 cars and the soft Dunlop tyres they’ll be on this time, compared to the hard tyres from previous years.

Drivers have said there is less downforce in these cars, but the extra grip helps. However, tyre degradation happens quicker and speeds will drop off considerably over a stint of around 25 laps.

So whoever does the best job in preserving tyres will have a distinct advantage as they won’t have to do as many pitstops. However, right now, everything is pointing towards a Kostecki/Russell victory. The race starts at 1.15pm NZ time.

AT A GLANCE

Starting grid positions for Bathurst 1000

1. Brodie Kostecki/ David Russell – Erebus
2. Broc Feeney/ Jamie Whincup – Triple Eight
3. Cam Waters/ James Moffat – Tickford
4. James Goulding/ Dylan O’Keefe – PremiAir Racing
5. Anton De Pasquale/ Tony D’Alberto – DJR
6. Shane van Gisbergen/ Richie Stanaway – Triple Eight
7. David Reynolds/ Garth Tander – Grove Racing
8. Matt Payne/ Kevin Estre – Grove Racing
9. Chaz Mostert/ Lee Holdsworth – Walkinshaw Andretti United
10. Will Davison/ Alex Davison – DJR
11. Thomas Randle/ Garry Jacobson – Tickford Racing
12. Scott Pye/ Warren Luff – Team 18
13. Andre Heimgartner/ Dale Wood – BJR
14. Cameron Hill/ Jaclyn Robotham – Matt Stone Racing
15. Jack Le Brocq/ Jayden Ojeda – Matt Stone Racing
16. James Courtney/ Zac Best – Tickford Racing
17. Will Brown/ Jack Perkins – Erebus
18. Tim Slade/ Jonathon Webb – PremiAir Racing
19. Mark Winterbottom/ Michael Caruso – Team 18
20. Zane Goddard/ Craig Lowndes – Triple Eight
21. Bryce Fullwood/ Dean Fiore – BJR
22. Todd Hazelwood/ Tim Blanchard – Blanchard Racing Team
23. Nick Percat/ Fabian Coulthard – Walkinshaw Andretti Racing
24. Macauley Jones/ Jordan Boys – BJR
25. Kai Allen/ Simona de Silvestro – DJR
26. Aaron Love/ Jake Kostecki – Blanchard Racing Team
27. Jack Smith/ Jaxon Evans – DJR
28. Declan Fraser/ Tyler Everingham – Tickford Racing