Brodie Kostecki claims Bathurst 1000 pole with fastest time in Top-10 shootout

As Kostecki underlined his status as the fastest man on the mountain to put himself in prime position to attack a second straight Bathurst 1000 crown, it emerged his team Dick Johnson Racing submitted a parity protest on Saturday to Motorsport Australia that was dismissed.

DJR protested over a “lack of fairness arising from the decision-making process and failure to implement an engine parity adjustment in the 2025 Repco Bathurst 1000, resulting in a known performance disparity between the Ford and GM engines” and was summoned to a stewards hearing, but was unsuccessful.

The Ford squad later confirmed it would not appeal the decision.

The protest came as the Mustangs secured the top four positions on the grid for Sunday’s race in the Top 10 Shootout.

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Kostecki poured fuel on the parity debate on Friday after taking provisional pole when he said it was “crap” the Ford camp’s parity concerns over straight line speed had been ignored and left the Mustangs vulnerable against the Camaros in the race.

While Kostecki doubled down on his stance earlier on Saturday, he later batted away parity questions after his stunning Top 10 Shootout lap when asked if he still had doubts if the Fords could win.

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

Kostecki and his co-driver Todd Hazelwood, who he won alongside at Bathurst with Erebus Motorsport last year, will now chase Ford’s first win since Scott McLaughlin triumphed at the mountain in 2019.

Kostecki produced a flawless 2:04.04sec shootout lap to edge out Tickford Racing’s Cam Waters with Walkinshaw Andretti United pair Chaz Mostert and Ryan Wood third and fourth fastest.

Triple Eight’s championship leader Broc Feeney will start his quest for a maiden Bathurst crown from fifth place on the grid.

Kostecki pumped his fist wildly in the car after he joined Peter Brock and Allan Moffat as the only drivers to score three Bathurst 1000 poles in a row with his shootout stunner.

RECAP THE TOP-10 SHOOTOUT BELOW

“The car has been pretty good all weekend, we’ve been trying to focus on race running and make sure the car can last the distance. I know I have got the best possible guy next to me to do it in Toddy and I have got a great team behind me,” Kostecki said.

“We just tried not to get caught up in the atmosphere and the things about this mountain that can really pull you in and get you off-track.

“I got taught a pretty valuable lesson back in 2023 by Shane (van Gisbegern) and he flogged us in the race, so I was really proud to get that last year and hopefully we can go back to back this year.”

Kostecki said he was honoured to put his name alongside some of the sport’s greats.

“I feel really honoured to be a part of that group now,” Kostecki said.

“It’s a real honour to drive for this team. It comes with that pressure of trying to join some heroes of mine and legends of the sport who are going for three in a row.

“It was definitely a pretty emotional moment.”

Hazelwood, who teamed with Kostecki to win at The Bend last month, said he was ready to start the race tomorrow if it was what the team’s strategy determined.

“(I’m) ready for tomorrow and if I do start the race it is something that we have spoken about internally, so we don’t 100 per cent know what the plan is just yet,” Hazelwood said.

“Brodie has done a fantastic job so far and I’m certainly feeling comfortable in the car as well …. I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow and aiming to try and do what we did last year.

“We’ve got a great team around us, Brodie is in form and I feel like I’m in tip top shape myself and confident behind the wheel.

“We’ve put a lot of emphasis on our race car so how tomorrow pans out, we don’t know but that’s the beauty of this great race and just looking forward to the challenge.”

With showers forecast for Bathurst on Sunday, Hazelwood added he would welcome the rain.

“I think rain would be awesome, bring it on,” Hazelwood said.

Tickford Racing’s Thomas Randle was the first driver out on the mountain and his 2:04.73 stood as the time to beat until his teammate Waters, who was the fourth driver out, lopped half a second off his time with his 2:04.21 lap.

Waters’ time survived attacks from Mostert, Cooper Murray, Anton De Pasquale, Wood and Feeney before Kostecki proved he was the master over one lap at the iconic circuit.

Erebus rookie Cooper Murray, Randle, Cameron Hill, De Pasquale and Nick Percat, who is retiring from full-time racing at the end of the year, rounded out the top 10.

Sick of questions about being a Bathurst bridesmaid, Waters hoped this was the year he could finally climb onto the top step.

“I’ll try again (Sunday). We’ve prepared really well, we’ve got a fast car, Frosty (co-driver Mark Winterbottom) has done an awesome job. We’ll see what the day brings,” Waters said.

“A front row start is pretty cool. I would have liked to get pole but a front row start is pretty cool. We just want to win tomorrow.

It is not just victory in the biggest race of the year up for grabs on Sunday with a major title boost also on offer for the winner of the Enduro Cup, who will receive a 25-point bonus leading into the inaugural Supercars finals starting on the Gold Coast next round.

Kostecki leads the Enduro Cup standings after his win at The Bend ahead of Waters and Matt Payne.

There will be a boost to team strategy on Sunday with co-drivers again allowed to take the keys for the start of the Bathurst 1000 after Supercars ditched a controversial rule change.

In a move which will bring more tactics into play for the Great Race, the rule which dictated primary drivers must start the endurance races has been scratched.

The contentious rule was introduced in 2024 to make sure that the sport’s biggest stars were behind the wheel for the opening to the marquee race of the season, but the change was not widely welcomed among the teams, who felt it restricted their strategy for the 1000km race.

Six-time Bathurst 1000 champion Mark Skaife said the change would benefit teams with the most experienced and strongest co-drivers.

Skaife expected the majority of the teams to start the race with their co-drivers, which he considered the optimal strategy.

“What happens now is you’ve got a situation where you can start either driver and there is a massive disparity in experience, some rookies and some people like a Craig Lowndes or a Garth Tander, Mark Winterbottom or a Jamie Whincup, if they were starting, you’ve got no problem at all,” Skaife said.

“I think it plays into the hands of the experienced operators. There are a couple of exceptions … if you’ve got a rookie and they’re showing good pace and in good form, then it is probably prudent to think about putting him in.

“But conversely, if you haven’t done that many laps and you aren’t going that well, you would be better off to take the sting out of the race (with the main driver starting).”

For two of the title challengers starting outside the top 10, Will Brown and Matt Payne, Skaife said their teams had to chase

“They need to do a little bit of something that’s a bit alternate,” Skaife said.

“So if you’re thinking 25-lap stints, you might just shorten one of them and do a little bit of an undercut, get out and have clear track.

“You might do that in a couple of stages just to get yourself clear and be able to show your genuine pace.”

Skaife predicted Brown and Scott Pye could push up into the top five, but expected the job for Payne and Tander from their starting position would be “hard yards”.