Brodie Kostecki has carried the Shell V-Power Racing Team back to victory lane, with the 2023 Supercars champion soaring to victory in an absorbing NTI Townsville 500 sprint.
Starting from pole, Kostecki denied Cam Waters before and after the stops to secure his first win of the season, his first for Ford, and Dick Johnson Racing’s first since Townsville 500.
The 2024 Bathurst winner became the eighth different winner of the season, with Team 18’s Anton De Pasquale rounding out the podium in third.
Fourth was enough for Penrite Racing’s Matt Payne to jump Will Brown into second in the championship, albeit by five points. Brown charged from 20th to 10th, with Broc Feeney motoring from 14th to eighth.
“That felt awesome, the Shell V-Power Mustang was on fire today,” Kostecki said.
“I had Cam breathing down my neck the whole race, I know I couldn’t make a mistake. What an awesome feeling, to get the monkey off the back is just absolutely unreal.
“I’ve been pretty fortunate to win some pretty cool races, but this feels real special.”
Kostecki and Waters dragged through Turn 1 into Turn 2, with the former claiming a clear lead through the hairpin. Behind them, De Pasquale got by Payne for fourth, while Jaxon Evans was forced into the garage with front end damage after a clash with Brad Jones Racing teammate Macauley Jones.
Both Triple Eight drivers looked to make up ground, and did so; on the first lap alone, Feeney moved from 14th to 10th, and Brown from 20th to 16th.
The Triple Eight drivers marched on, picking off Wood and Randle, and they caught Le Brocq. Amid a strong defensive display by Le Brocq, Feeney cleared Brown through Turn 8. After a lap of trying, Feeney picked off Le Brocq at Turn 2 on the final lap.
Kostecki, meanwhile, raced away to the ninth of his career. Waters and De Pasquale completed the podium, with Payne, Fullwood, Mostert, Davison, Feeney, Le Brocq and Brown rounding out the 10.
Supercars action resumes on Saturday with Boost Mobile Qualifying at 10:00am AEST, followed by the Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout at 12:05pm local time.
The first 200km race of the weekend, Race 21, commences at 3:00pm local time.
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