Kostecki clinches third straight Bathurst 1000 pole despite engine frustration

Defending Bathurst 1000 champion Brodie Kostecki has overcome concerns about his car’s ability to match the horsepower of the Camaros by clinching his third consecutive pole position for the great race at Mt Panorama on Sunday.

Kostecki posted a sizzling 2:04:041 to win Saturday’s top-10 shootout and emulate legends Peter Brock and Allan Moffat, who also started from the front of the Bathurst grid three years in a row.

“It’s really special,” Kostecki said. “They’re names that I’ve looked up to, so I’m really honoured to be part of that group now, but to be honest, I’m just focused on tomorrow.”

After claiming provisional pole position on Thursday, Kostecki voiced his frustration about the unresolved issue of engine “parity”.

The 28-year-old former series champion believes Ford, which has not won in Bathurst since 2019, has a disadvantage in terms of straight-line speed. He was disappointed that no countermeasures had been implemented after recent testing of the barometric pressure on the different engines.

After the shootout, Kostecki clearly did not want to revisit the subject.

“I’ll just let tomorrow play out and see, and go from there,” he said.

He added with a grin: “I also had a chicken sandwich for lunch, and I reckon they went a bit too heavy on the aioli. So they might tune that up as well.”

There did not appear to be any issue with his speed on Saturday, nor that of his fellow Ford drivers, who will occupy the front four starting berths on Sunday.

Kostecki pipped Cam Waters (2:04:217) for pole, with Chaz Mostert (2:04:358) third, Ryan Wood (2:04:442) fourth and series leader Broc Feeney (2:04:594) a slightly disappointing fifth.

Feeney slid on the first corner and lost some control across the top of the mountain. He admitted he wasn’t happy with his lap.

“I’m pretty disappointed with that … anyway, we’re in the mix,” Feeney told Fox Sports.

Earlier, there was drama during the sixth practice session when reigning series champion Will Brown’s Camaro was shunted and spun off the track after an incident that prompted Mostert to remonstrate with Thomas Randle in the pit lane.

Brown was overheard saying on Triple Eight team radio: “I just pooped in my pants.”

Mostert – who was left with a broken leg, wrist and knee injury after a 2015 crash on Mt Panorama – apologised to Brown for the bingle, and fronted Randle after the lap to complain.

“I think I got Randle’d there at the start of my lap, so I don’t know,” Mostert told Fox Sports.

“Randle’s doing his own thing, and he’s not thinking about everyone else out there, and unfortunately it put Will Brown in a big shunt.

“Definitely don’t want to do that at this stage of the weekend, so a bit of a shame, but anyway.

“I don’t know what information is being fed to him, but you should be conscious of other people out there.”

There were more serious crashes in the lead-up races. Super Utes driver Dave Casey escaped serious injury after flipping his vehicle and rolling several times.

There was also a multi-car pile-up in race two of the Dunlop Series, prompting a restart.

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