David Reynolds has kept Brodie Kostecki at bay in a late sprint to the line to claim honours in this evening’s final race of the Gold Coast 500.
Sacrificing track position for extra fuel during his first pit stop proved the difference, with Reynolds emerging at the front after the final round of servicing. Kostecki briefly retook the lead on Lap 72 but ran wide at the hairpin just a few circuits later, allowing the Penrite Mustang to take a lead it would hold until the end.
A late Safety Car threatened to shake up proceedings, coming when James Golding, who had been running fourth, clipped the exit tyre barriers at the Turn 1 chicane, spun across the track, and left facing traffic. He did a flick turn into the path of Scott Pye, whose only path of avoidance was into the wall, resulting in damage that cruelly forced him from the race.
A four-lap sprint to the line ensued, but little change occurred towards the front, with Reynolds keeping Kostecki two-tenths behind for the second Mustang victory of the weekend.
Saturday’s race winner Cam Waters concluded a strong weekend with another podium, in third, one spot ahead of Matt Payne, whose strong run of form shows a maiden Supercar podium is just races away.
Shane van Gisbergen minimised his championship point losses to Kostecki by finishing fifth, ahead of Golding, who may find himself in trouble for triggering the late incident.
With several time penalties still to be served, the late Safety Car saw several top 10 finishers relegated well down the order, including Andre Heimgartner who had 15 seconds added to his time, classifying him 17th.
Will Brown dropped from 6th to 11th, and Chaz Mostert from 7th to 13th.
The penalties moved Thomas Randle up to seventh, ahead of Broc Feeney, Mark Winterbottom and Bryce Fullwood, respectively.
The points gap between Kostecki and van Gisbergen is now back to 131, the same as it was before the weekend.
Supercars returns for the final round of 2023 at the Adelaide 500 on November 23-26.
As it happened
Kostecki controlled proceedings off the start, getting a better launch off pole and having a clear line ahead of Reynolds into the opening chicane. Mostert jumped Payne off the line and slotted into third, heading into Turn 2.
Further back, Declan Fraser, Tim Slade and James Courtney entered Turn 2 three-wide, with Fraser taking the inside line, while Courtney, in the middle, and Slade, on the outside, went wide and into the barriers.
Slade went nose-first into the tyres while Courtney bounced back into the path of Macauley Jones, who was left with nowhere to go. Jack Smith would make contact with Jones but could continue as the others were forced out.
The race resumed on Lap 8, with Kostecki leading Reynolds, Mostert, Payne and Winterbottom, respectively, with van Gisbergen sitting 10th and Heimgartner 15th.
Van Gisbergen quickly worked past De Pasquale and Waters to jump to eighth as Reynolds continued to apply pressure to Kostecki for the lead.
Payne was the first of the lead pack to come in on Lap 21, while Brown and De Pasquale came in on Lap 26, the latter taking track position in a tight release from his box.
Kostecki stopped from the lead the following circuit, emerging just ahead of Payne, while Mostert covered Kostecki’s stop on Lap 28 and dropped behind the Kiwi rookie.
Reynolds remained out and in the lead, holding a six-second advantage over van Gisbergen, who had Waters regaining ground on his tail until he, too, came in on Lap 32, emerging just behind Mostert.
Van Gisbergen’s first stop was on Lap 32, and he dropped into an extremely tight gap between Waters and Golding. Reynolds covered from the lead a lap later, falling behind his teammate for net third.
Once the first round of stops played out, Kostecki led Payne by 1.5 seconds, with Reynolds a further 4.5 seconds behind in third, ahead of Mostert, Waters, van Gisbergen, Golding and Winterbottom, respectively. Reynolds had, however, opted for extra fuel.
Reynolds quickly ate into this gap and passed the Kiwi for second on Lap 43, with Kostecki now three seconds up the road. Further back, Waters and van Gisbergen had passed Mostert and began hunting down Payne, who was on 11-lap older tyres.
Waters was the first to move through on Lap 50 to take third, but Mostert came in for his final stop on Lap 52, dropping off the lead lap but slotting in between Payne and van Gisbergen before the latter could overtake the Penrite Mustang.
Mostert unlapped himself from Payne on Lap 54, with van Gisbergen following through a few corners later before both immediately jumped into pit lane for their final stop.
Payne retook position at the pit exit, with Brown also emerging on the tail of the pair. Mostert would receive a five-second penalty for repeated track limit infringements at the same point.
Kostecki’s final stop for fuel and tyres came on Lap 56, with Reynolds coming in on Lap 59 and taking a 1-second lead on exit ahead of a final 25-lap sprint to the line.
Golding, meanwhile, had quietly gone about his business and sat fourth, less than a second behind Waters with 19 laps to run.
The gap to the front quickly evaporated, and Reynolds and Kostecki were locked in battle by Lap 68.
The lead changed on Lap 72, with Kostecki exiting the hairpin well and getting a nose ahead into the Beach Chicane, forcing Reynolds to back off.
De Pasquale had dropped well off the pace and dropped a lap down because of electrical issues.
Kostecki ran wide at the hairpin a few laps later, with Reynolds retaking the lead for the final ten laps.
A major spanner was thrown into the works with seven laps to run when Golding ran into the tyres at the exit of the Turn 1 chicane and left facing the wrong way into traffic.
He did a flick turn right into the path of Pye, who was left with nowhere to go but into the outside barriers, which he hit lightly but sustained steering damage that brought him to a stop.
A Safety Car was called, and the restart left a four-lap sprint with Reynolds leading Kostecki, Waters, Payne, Van Gisbergen and Brown, respectively.
Less than two-tenths separated the two leaders at the start of the final lap, and Reynolds came under fire for cutting the Turn 1 chicane, as he had on two occasions prior.
The Penrite driver would keep his nerve to come home for a 0.1889-second victory, with Waters a further 2.5 seconds behind in third.
Payne was the first of the Kiwis home in fourth, one place ahead of van Gisbergen.
Header Image: Supercars
