Brodie Kostecki Takes Pole For 60th Bathurst 1000

Brodie Kostecki and David Russell will start the 60th edition of the Bathurst 1000 from pole position after an incredible shootout performance by Kostecki, setting a 2:04.2719 lap, taking pole by almost half a second. Such was the dominance by the #99 Coca Cola by Erebus Camaro at the hands of Kostecki that a mistake at Hell Corner costing ‘about a tenth and a half’ was inconsequential to the eventual result, with Kostecki setting a session-best sector 2 and sector 3 on his way to pole position.

Sharing the front row will be Broc Feeney and Jamie Whincup in the #88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro, who was fastest in sector 1 on his way to setting a 2:04.7549, managing to jump 3 positions from his qualifying of 5th. The second row will have the Cameron Waters/James Moffat #6 Monster Energy Mustang, and James Golding with Dylan O’Keeffe in the #31 Nulon Racing Camaro. Remarkably, it is the 5th time in succession that Waters has qualified in the top 3 at Bathurst – the gap between Feeney, Waters and Golding, only 6 hundredths of a second.

The shootout saw 6 of the 10 cars dip into the 2:04’s, which ran against the trend of lap times during the day. All day, outright pace was lacking as warmth and sunshine bathed the circuit during practice 5 and 6, with only 3 laps in the 2:05’s during the day, despite a string of shootout simulation runs in Practice 6.

Earlier in the day, it was a gorgeous spring morning for Practice 5, with the emphasis of the co-driver only session on comfort, balance, and determining tyre degradation. The result was plenty of long runs, with most drivers completing more than 20 laps in the session.

Richie Stanaway had the fastest time, at a 2:06.0486, set very early in the session. But the interest was more at how the lap time trended across a stint: By the end of the session, Stanaway was setting lap times in the high 2:08’s, a lap-time degradation of almost 3 seconds over a 20 lap stint. This number looked consistent across the field. The drop off in lap time due in part to degradation of the Dunlop Soft tyre, compounded by the unabated sunshine on the circuit.

While, for the most part, teams could focus on the long runs, there were a few teams who struggled with reliability issues. The #9 Coca Cola by Erebus Camaro only did 10 laps at the hands of Jack Perkins, who was in and out of the pits trying to fix an apparent power steering issue, possibly as a result of yesterday’s incident in qualifying. It was a similar story for the #56 Tradie Beer Mustang; after a full rebuild overnight, Tyler Everingham reported that the car was ‘walking’ [sideways] in a straight line, and he completed only 7 laps. The session also ended early for Jaylyn Robotham in the #35 Truck Assist Camaro, with the team diagnosing a clutch issue, bringing that car in late in the session.

The top group in outright lap pace featured those who have already displayed pace this weekend; Behind Stanaway was Garth Tander in the #26 Penrite Mustang, followed by Zane Goddard in the #888 Supercheap Auto Camaro, and David Russell in the #99 Coca Cola by Erebus Camaro, but outright lap times were over a second away from the corresponding session yesterday. Kevin Estre completed the most laps in the #19 Penrite Mustang, logging 25 laps, ending the session in 17th place.

Practice 6 was the warmest of the weekend so far, and was expected to see more long running to validate the morning’s results, as well as final prep for the drivers in the top 10 to get their eye in for the shootout later today. The warm, sunny conditions match what is expected come the middle of the race tomorrow, allowing those not in the shootout a great chance to work on race set up.

Very early on, it was Broc Feeney in the #88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro who set the fast time – a 2:05.984 – followed immediately by the #99 Coca Cola by Erebus Camaro – Brodie Kostecki taking back the fastest time, with a 2:05.8290. It took another 10 minutes before Feeney once again went to the top, setting a 2:05.587.

And that was where the hunt for outright pace ended. While some teams attempted a shootout simulation late on, no-one else could dip into the 2:05’s, with the warmth and sunshine pushing the track conditions away from the teams. It was a far cry from yesterday’s qualifying, which saw times down into the 2:04’s.

The session ran almost entirely trouble free, with no major incidents to note. The hot pit lane allowed full pit stop practice, with brake changes and driver swaps on the agenda for most of the first half of the session. The brake change will be key for the race, and for the #26 Penrite Racing team, there will be extra concern after their attempted brake change ended with the front left disk stuck on the hub, requiring the car to be pulled into the garage to complete the change.

Of the cars with troubles earlier in the day, the #9 Coca Cola by Erebus Camaro looked to be back to full strength, with Will Brown ending the session in third, while both the #56 Tradie Beer Mustang and the #35 Truck Assist Camaro both completed the session without issue.

Come the shootout, the track had cooled out and the sun started to dip behind the trees, energising the surface and providing plenty of grip for the runners, especially for those later in the session.

First man out Will Davison had a lock up at Turn 1, ruining his lap at the first corner. His mark of a 2:06.4174 in the #17 Shell V-Power Mustang was immediately eclipsed by Chaz Mostert’s effort in the #25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang, who set a 2:05.8309. Mostert was quickest over the top for much of the Shootout, despite the next 4 runners setting a faster overall lap.

Matt Payne in the #19 Penrite Racing Mustang used all of the road in his lap, dropping the marker down to a 2:05.26, before Shane Van Gisbergen found the pace he had been searching for all weekend, with the fastest S1 and S3, dropping into the 2:04’s with a 4.9971 in the #97 Red Bull Ampol Camaro.

He was able to improve his position by one, with David Reynolds in the #26 Penrite Racing Mustang slotting in behind him, unable to match Van Gisbergen’s mark, finishing with a 2:05.1.

The biggest mover of the Shootout was Broc Feeney, who smashed the bottom of the mountain with a 50.99 second sector 1 (the only S1 under 51 seconds) followed by a 40.5 in the final sector to set a 2:04.7549, provisionally putting the #88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro on pole with a Red Bull Ampol 1-2 with half the shootout remaining.

Cameron Waters was the only driver to run a roaded set of tyres, which served him well across the top of the mountain, with the #6 Monster Energy Mustang going sub-33 seconds across the top. However, he was unable to keep up down the mountain, dropping behind Feeney by 2 hundredths of a second. The #11 Shell V-Power Mustang of Anton De Pasquale was next, but a mistake at Griffins Bend cost 2 tenths in the first sector, which he was never able to gain back, slotting in ahead of Van Gisbergen with a 2:04.91.

James Golding, who was the surprise entry into the top 10 from qualifying in the #31 Nulon Camaro, almost matched Feeney to the second sector, separated by only 0.004 coming out of Forrest Elbow, but he had to settle for the second row; his 2:04.8155 only 4 hundredths from Waters, and 6 hundredths from Feeney.

And with that the stage was set for Brodie Kostecki. A minor moment on the exit of Turn 1 kicked up plenty of dust, but didn’t come with a substantial lap time penalty, with Kostecki only 3 hundredths behind in S1. The gap exploded over the mountain, with Kostecki half a second quicker in sector 2, and for good measure, a fastest sector 3 saw the #99 Coca Cola by Erebus Camaro set a 2:04.2719, taking pole position by almost half a second.

The final grid sees a pair of Camaros on the front row, Kostecki next to Feeney, followed by Cam Waters in the #6 Mustang, and James Golding in the #31 Camaro. Anton De Pasquale (#11 Mustang) and Shane van Gisbergen (#97 Camaro) round out row 3, with the pair of Penrite Mustangs on row 4: #26 ahead of #19. The 10 is rounded out by Mostert in the #25, then Will Davison in the #17.

Race start for the 60th Bathurst 1000 is at 11:15am AEDT (UTC+11:00) on Sunday, with 161 laps on the agenda to decide who will be King of the Mountain for 2023.

Results

Practice 5
Practice 6
Shootout

Pic top copyright Erebus Motorsport