Brodie Kostecki has secured back-to-back wins for the second time this season, extending his championship lead with victory in the second race of the OTR SuperSprint at The Bend. Thomas Randle secured his second podium of the weekend and finished second, while Chaz Mostert rounded out the podium following a final lap pass on David Reynolds.
Shane van Gisbergen held off a late Matt Payne challenge for a Kiwi fifth and sixth result, respectively, while Andre Heimgartner passed Will Brown late in the race to ensure all three New Zealanders finished in the top ten.
For Kostecki, the race was claimed in the opening corners, with the championship leader getting a similar launch to pole-sitter Randle off the front row, running the outside line through Turn 1, and taking the lead on the inside into Turn 2. Van Gisbergen and Payne also started well, the defending champion getting the better of the rookie to take third.
In the mid-field, Jack Le Brocq looked to make ground over Cam Waters and Will Davison into Turn 6, running up the inside of the pair but with too much momentum, sending all three into a spin.
Waters and Le Brocq returned to the lane for repairs, with the latter also awarded a drive-through penalty for causing the collision. Davison was also required to stop as his passenger door came ajar on the following lap.
By the end of the second lap, Kostecki held a slight margin over Randle, while van Gisbergen had Payne and David Reynolds on his tail but held third.
Nick Percat, Bryce Fullwood, Mark Winterbottom and Macauley Jones were the first to make their compulsory stops at the end of Lap 5, while Reynolds followed a lap later to break sync with the leaders.
Randle boxed from second on Lap 8 to emerge just ahead of Reynolds. Kostecki and Payne covered a lap later, with the former retaining the net lead and the latter dropping behind his teammate but on fresher tyres.
Van Gisbergen was the next in on Lap 11, and he too lost out to Reynolds, slotting in between the two Penrite Racing Mustangs, all but highlighting the effectiveness of the undercut on the circuit.
Heimgartner and Scott Pye were the last to make their stops, which saw Kostecki retake with a half-second advantage over Randle, with Reynolds, van Gisbergen, Payne and Mostert all running close behind, respectively. Heimgartner returned from his stop in eleventh.
Mostert got past Payne at Turn 1 on Lap 15 and began hunting down van Gisbergen, who in turn was on the rear of Reynolds.
Brown, Feeney and Heimgartner were locked in a battle at the bottom of the top ten, resulting in the Red Bull entry passing the Erebus entry on Lap 17, with Heimgartner following through to return to the top ten.
Mostert got past van Gisbergen on Lap 18 following a lockup from the Kiwi as he attempted a move on Reynolds, setting up a thrilling final two laps in the battle for the final podium spot. Mostert would take the podium spot at Turn 1 on the last lap.
Payne also got on to the rear of van Gisbergen on the final lap but ran out of time to get the move done, settling for sixth.
Kostecki held on for a one-second win over Randle, while Mostert was a further 1.7 seconds down the road in third.
Reynolds finished fourth, making for a strong outing for Penrite Racing, with van Gisbergen, in fifth, the car between him and teammate Payne.
De Pasquale, Fullwood, Feeney and Heimgartner rounded out the top ten.
Supercars return for one final race at the OTR SuperSprint at 6.20 pm this evening.
Header Image: Erebus Motorsport
