Kostecki sweeps crazy Sunday qualifying

By Thomas Miles

Date posted: 21 May 2023

Brodie Kostecki has stormed to both pole positions in Sunday’s crazy back-to-back qualifying sessions at Symmons Plains as traffic caused headaches.

Championship leader Kostecki emerged on top after both sessions ended in chaotic fashion with almost the entire field battling for the perfect track position on the short circuit.

At the heart of the drama was Cameron Waters, who had set purple sectors in his final lap, but collided with both Dick Johnson Racing cars at Turn 6.

As a result he will start races 11 and 12 from 10th and third respectively.

The opening qualifying session concluded in chaotic fashion with just 0.0029s separating Kostecki from Broc Feeney.

Car #99 also held a meagre margin in the final session with his Erebus teammate Will Brown just 0.018s away.

Matt Stone Racing continued its strong form with both Jack Le Brocq and Cameron Hill qualifying in the top five for race 11 and both cars remaining in the top 10 for the third and final race.

Only one Ford featured in the top seven in both sessions.

Race 11 Qualifying

Brodie Kostecki claimed his fourth pole of the season at Symmons Plains. Image: Mark Horsburgh

Kostecki continued Erebus Motorsport’s supreme one-lap pace by emerging on top in a thrilling opening qualifying on Sunday morning.

The championship leader edged out Feeney by three thousandths of a second, while Brown was also less than a tenth away.

It was a strong start for Tickford with Waters the early leader after lapping a 51.3417, with only Feeney ahead of teammates Randle and Courtney.

But then came the Camaro charge led by Kostecki, who went purple by just 0.03s as Waters was suddenly the only Mustang in the top 11.

However, this did not stop the Monster Mustang from knocking Kostecki back off P1 as their duel continued with the gap now a meagre 0.0511s.

Le Brocq also joined in, getting to within a tenth from the ultimate pace in P3 as De Pasquale and David Reynolds gave Waters some Ford company in the top 10.

The benchmark was then lowered by Thomas Randle at the eight minute mark when the Castrol #55 recorded a 51.1003 to go a tenth clear of Waters.

The youngster rose 22 spots to achieve the feat, while van Gisbergen down in eighth locked up and went off at Turn 6.

Randle did not stop there, increasing his advantage to 0.1289s with a 51.0883 despite being the only car on track.

With just under four minutes left, all 25 cars hit the track for a late blast at pole and the entire pack crawled down the back straight at walking pace.

The crazy and congested finish was highlighted by Waters, who was up on the first sector, but his lap was ruined after he ran into the back of De Pasquale at Turn 6 and was relegated to 10th.

After all the chaos, it was once again Erebus on top with Kostecki edging out Feeney and Brown.

Race 12 Qualifying

Will Brown and Brodie Kostecki celebrate after locking out the front row for Race 12.

Another Erebus Motorsport front row lock out will be the scene for the final race of the Tasmania SuperSprint after Kostecki snuck ahead of teammate Brown.

They will start ahead of Waters, who suffered more Turn 6 pain as Matt Stone Racing and PremiAir Racing also showed strong pace.

The competitive nature of qualifying was at an all time high when the session kicked off with less than a tenth covering the top five of Heimgartner, Feeney, Payne, Waters and Golding.

Hill went off at the hairpin as Randle went back to the top, being the first driver into the 50s window on his own.

Randle’s 50.8426 stood until another crazy finish where everyone aside from the Castrol Mustang crowded the short track.

Although Payne and Mostert got close, Randle started dropping as the Kostecki, Brown, Waters and Le Brocq all went faster on their opening flyer of their final runs.

This remained the order as chaos unfolded when the chequered flag fell.

For the second successive qualifying Waters was on lap that could have been good enough for pole, but ran into another Dick Johnson Racing Mustang at Turn 6.

This time it was Will Davison in the road and the pair made side to side contact.

The incident was not quite as costly for Waters, who still salvaged third ahead of the impressive Le Brocq and Tim Slade.

Only Tickford teammate Randle joined Waters as Mustang runners in the top 10.

Despite a late off, Mark Winterbottom got 10th.

Race 11 Qualifying results

1 Brodie Kostecki 50.833

2 Broc Feeney +0.002

3 Will Brown +0.062

4 Jack Le Brocq +0.130

5 Cameron Hill +0.150

6 James Golding +0.174

7 Will Davison +0.210

8 Thomas Randle +0.221

9 David Reynolds +0.239

10 Cameron Waters +0.240

11 Shane van Gisbergen +0.255

12 Tim Slade +0.311

13 Chaz Mostert +0.329

14 Bryce Fullwood +0.365

15 Mark Winterbottom +0.400

16 Nick Percat +0.440

17 James Courtney +0.443

18 Matthew Payne +0.456

19 Anton De Pasquale +0.562

20 Jack Smith +0.565

21 Andre Heimgartner +0.565

22 Todd Hazelwood +0.568

23 Declan Fraser +0.604

24 Macauley Jones +0.648

25 Scott Pye +0.662

Race 12 Qualifying results

1 Brodie Kostecki 50.621

2 Will Brown +0.018

3 Cameron Waters +0.031

4 Jack Le Brocq +0.054

5 Tim Slade +0.115

6 Broc Feeney +0.122

7 Cameron Hill +0.148

8 Thomas Randle +0.220

9 Shane van Gisbergen +0.230

10 Mark Winterbottom +0.283

11 Chaz Mostert +0.312

12 Matthew Payne +0.315

13 Bryce Fullwood +0.397

14 Nick Percat +0.413

15 Andre Heimgartner +0.416

16 James Golding +0.440

17 Anton De Pasquale +0.448

18 David Reynolds +0.471

19 James Courtney +0.495

20 Macauley Jones +0.503

21 Scott Pye +0.529

22 Todd Hazelwood +0.599

23 Declan Fraser +0.602

24 Will Davison +0.617

25 Jack Smith +0.699

2023 Tasmania SuperSprint schedule (all times AEST)

Saturday, May 20

Practice 1: 1 Brodie Kostecki 51.0147; 2 James Courtney +0.1485; 3 Todd Hazelwood +0.179

Practice 2: 1 Brodie Kostecki 51.172; 2 Jack Le Brocq +0.019; 3 Will Brown +0.054

Qualifying R10: 1: Will Brown 2 Jack Le Brocq 3 Cam Waters

Race 10: 1: Will Brown 2 Andre Heimgartner 3 Shane van Gisbergen

Sunday, May 21

Qualifying R11: 9.50-10.05

Qualifying R12: 10.15-10.30

Race 11: 13.05-14.00

Race 12: 15.50-14.45

Download the full Supercars Tasmania Round 4 Event Guide with track stats and facts and a full event schedule, plus our extensive driver profiles here

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