The Bend Supercars: Kostecki wins, DNF for Brown

Kostecki was forced to recover from a sluggish start from pole position, overhauling both Chaz Mostert and Thomas Randle in the first stint.

He then benefited from a fierce battle between the pair behind him, Kostecki cruising to a 1.7s win.

His series lead is now 80 points over Shane van Gisbergen, with Broc Feeney in third, 99 points behind.

Brown's title hopes took a hit, meanwhile, the Erebus driver taken out of the race in a first-lap crash. He is now fourth in the standings, 141 points behind his teammate.

The race got off to a dramatic start with that crash that ruled Brown out of the race.

The clash was triggered Jack Le Brocq drilling Brown on the way through turn 1, after Brown had checked up from light contact with Anton De Pasquale.

Brown's front bar went flying in the melee that followed, while Cameron Hill was forced to spin his MSR Camaro to avoid the mess and was subsequently collected at speed by Jack Smith.

The incident put Brown, Hill and Smith out of the race on the spot.

At the front of the field, Randle made a rapid start from outside the front row to take an early lead. Chaz Mostert's start from fifth was even better, as he slipped into second ahead of polesitter Brodie Kostecki.

The crash led to a four-lap safety car, the race then going green at the start of lap 5.

Randle continued to lead the field, initially ahead of Mostert. That was until Kostecki pulled a bold move on Mostert at turn 6 on lap 8 to nab second place.

By lap 11 Kostecki was hard on Randle's bumper, having a look around the outside of turn 6. He then got the job done later in the lap, Randle and Mostert both diving immediately into the pits.

They resumed nose-to-tail in the same order, squabbling over position from the moment they left the lane.

Kostecki charged on before stopping two laps later, the battle between Randle and Mostert holding them up just enough for Kostecki to resume in the lead.

His cause was further helped on his out-lap when Mostert dive-bombed Randle into turn 6. The pair made contact on the exit, which ran Randle wide as Mostert moved into second.

The exchange gave Kostecki the breathing room he needed to establish a lead that he would hold until the chequered flag.

"I made it a bit hard for myself, I didn't get a good jump at the start," said Kostecki. "Chaz and Tom both got a good start so I had to pass them back before the stop. Luckily this Coca-Cola Camaro had plenty of pace under its bonnet.

"It's important to keep on building that [points] buffer. The team executed flawlessly and its days like today that you'll cherish forever."

Mostert came home second, while Randle came under pressure from teammate Cam Waters in the closing stages of the race.

Waters was eventually told not to fight Randle, but it didn't stop him closing right up on Randle's bumper as they crossed the line third and fourth.

That marked both a career-first podium and best finish for Randle.

Van Gisbergen ran down Triple Eight teammate Broc Feeney in the second stint, with Feeney having stopped on the first green flag lap after the safety car.

The Kiwi then did his usual trick, ran long and had better tyre condition to get past his teammate in the closing stages.

Feeney finished sixth ahead of Ford trio Matt Payne, James Courtney and Will Davison, with Andre Heimgartner in 10th.

The event continues with two qualifying sessions and two more races tomorrow.

The Bend SuperSprint Race 1 results 

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data

     

Driver Info		Main Information Additional Data
Cla	Driver		Car	Laps	Time	Interval	Retirement	Points
1	B. Kostecki Brodie Kostecki Erebus Motorsport Penrite		Chevrolet	20	-
2	C. Mostert Chaz Mostert Walkinshaw Andretti United		Ford Mustang GT	20	+1.719	1.719
3	T. Randle Thomas Randle Tickford Racing		Ford Mustang GT	20	+3.092	1.374
4	C. Waters Cameron Waters Tickford Racing		Ford Mustang GT	20	+3.403	0.311
5	S. van Gisbergen Shane van Gisbergen Triple Eight Race Engineering		Chevrolet	20	+6.011	2.607
6	B. Feeney Broc Feeney Triple Eight Race Engineering		Chevrolet	20	+7.922	1.911
7	M. Payne Matthew Payne Grove Racing		Ford Mustang GT	20	+8.146	0.225
8	J. Courtney James Courtney Tickford Racing		Ford Mustang GT	20	+10.462	2.316
9	W. Davison Will Davison Dick Johnson Racing		Ford Mustang GT	20	+11.688	1.226
10	A. Heimgartner Andre Heimgartner Brad Jones Racing		Chevrolet	20	+12.961	1.274
11	A. De Pasquale Anton De Pasquale Dick Johnson Racing		Ford Mustang GT	20	+13.633	0.672
12	T. Hazelwood Todd Hazelwood Blanchard Racing Team		Ford Mustang GT	20	+14.277	0.644
13	D. Reynolds David Reynolds Grove Racing		Ford Mustang GT	20	+15.344	1.067
14	J. Golding James Golding PremiAir Racing		Chevrolet	20	+18.859	3.515
15	J. Le Brocq Jack Le Brocq Matt Stone Racing		Chevrolet	20	+19.439	0.580
16	T. Slade Tim Slade PremiAir Racing		Chevrolet	20	+21.271	1.833
17	M. Winterbottom Mark Winterbottom Team 18		Chevrolet	20	+21.588	0.316
18	N. Percat Nick Percat Walkinshaw Andretti United		Ford Mustang GT	20	+22.219	0.631
19	D. Fraser Declan Fraser Tickford Racing		Ford Mustang GT	20	+22.821	0.602
20	M. Jones Macauley Jones Brad Jones Racing		Chevrolet	20	+24.243	1.422
21	B. Fullwood Bryce Fullwood Brad Jones Racing		Chevrolet	20	+25.894	1.652
22	S. Pye Scott Pye Team 18		Chevrolet	20	+26.753	0.858
nc	W. Brown Will Brown Erebus Motorsport Penrite		Chevrolet	0
nc	C. Hill Cameron Hill Matt Stone Racing		Chevrolet	0
nc	J. Smith Jack Smith Brad Jones Racing		Chevrolet	0
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