Kostecki gets DJR back to the front of the grid
By Thomas Miles
Date posted: 11 July 2025
DJR is back at the top with Brodie Kostecki taking pole and teammate Will Davison third in qualifying for the 2025 Townsville 500 opener.
Kostecki took his first pole at Townsville after a fast first sector propelled the #38 to the top with a 1:12.5354.
He edged out Cameron Waters by 0.0841s with Davison recording his best qualifying result since he took pole in Sydney last year 29 races ago.
Matt Payne and Anton De Pasquale completed the top five.
Townsville is the only track DJR has won at in the Gen3 era and Kostecki has given them the best opportunity of repeating the 2023 success after just one top four in the last eight races.
Kostecki paid tribute to engineer George Commins despite the latter having a head knock.
“I am pretty stoked with the car,” Kostecki said.
“I was not really sure where we were coming out of practice with the tyres but the car was dialled in the first run in qualifying.
“George made a few demon tweaks and put this Shell V-Power Mustang into the window for the green tyre run.
“We have been horrific in the last couple of rounds, but after the Sunday in Darwin when I made a booboo I was happy with the car.
“It has translated today which is great.
“George went on a mountain biking trip for two weeks and hit his head so maybe he should do that more often!”
Kostecki’s pace was clear throughout, having also topped Q1 which claimed both Triple Eight teammates Broc Feeney and Will Brown as victims.
Just 10 cars fought for pole across 10 minutes and only half of them rolled out for instant laps.
Leading the charge was Randle, who laid an early benchmark of 1:13.0572, but there was nothing in it.
De Pasquale more or less matched the Tickford driver with just 0.0003s splitting the top two.
The likes of Davison, Waters and Fullwood were just over a tenth adrift.
The other five all hit the track in the final two minutes and the first to put the foot down was Le Brocq.
The Erebus driver had virtually all the track to himself and made the most of it by flying into the 1m12s window.
Despite a lock up at the hairpin, his 1:12.8111 went a huge 0.2461s clear of Randle.
But many others kept it clean and found more time as the #9 dropped out of the top five.
Payne fired the first lap, only to be denied by Waters and Davison.
However, the driver with the most speed was Kostecki as his 1:12.5354 proved enough for pole.
He edged out Waters by less than a tenth, while Davison settled into third as Payne and De Pasquale completed the top five.
Payne attempted one last flyer, but backed out after a wild slide coming out of Turn 6.
2025 Townsville 500 results
Qualifying Race 20
Pos Driver Time
1 Brodie Kostecki 1:12.5354
2 Cameron Waters +0.0841
3 Will Davison +0.1913
4 Matt Payne +0.1920
5 Anton De Pasquale +0.1986
6 Jack Le Brocq +0.2757
7 Thomas Randle +0.2937
8 Bryce Fullwood +0.2973
9 Chaz Mostert +0.3507
10 Ryan Wood +0.3591
11 Kai Allen +0.5575
12 Richie Stanaway +0.5621
13 Aaron Cameron +0.5731
14 Broc Feeney +0.6138
15 Andre Heimgartner +0.6156
16 Cameron Hill +0.6920
17 David Reynolds +0.7019
18 James Golding +0.7235
19 James Courtney +0.7918
20 Will Brown +0.8575
21 Cooper Murray +0.8865
22 Nick Percat +0.9667
23 Jaxon Evans +1.0614
24Macauley Jones+1.1783
Image: DMAC Photography
2025 Townsville 500
FRIDAY 11th July
9:20am – 9:50am: Supercars Practice 1
11:10am – 11:40am: Supercars Practice 2
1:20pm – 1:50pm: Qualifying, Race 20 (Fox only)
3:40pm: Race 20 (35 laps/100kms) (Fox only)
SATURDAY 12th July
10:00am – 10:30am: Qualifying, Race 21 (Fox only)
12:05pm – 12:40pm: Top Ten Shootout, Race 21 (Fox/Seven)
3:00pm: Race 21 (70 laps/200kms) (Fox/Seven)
SUNDAY 13th July
10:00am – 10:30am: Qualifying, Race 22 (Fox only)
12:05pm – 12:40pm: Top Ten Shootout, Race 22 (Fox/Seven)
3:00pm: Race 22 (70 laps/200kms)(Fox/Seven)
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