Kostecki reacts to first Supercar laps of 2024
Brodie Kostecki cuts first Supercar laps of 2024 at Winton
Kostecki joined by new teammate Jack Le Brocq at test
2023 champ likens test day laps to "riding a bike"
Reigning champion Brodie Kostecki has likened his first Supercar laps of 2024 to “riding a bike” as the Erebus Motorsport driver prepares for his first race in five months.
On Wednesday, Kostecki joined Erebus and teammate Jack Le Brocq at Winton Motor Raceway for a test day ahead of next weekend's ITM Taupō Super400.
In New Zealand, Kostecki will make his first Supercars start since he clinched the 2023 title on the streets of Adelaide last November.
The 26-year-old got behind the wheel of the new-for-2024 TFH Hire Erebus Camaro that Todd Hazelwood raced at the first two rounds of the season.
For Kostecki, the laps were yet another stepping stone towards Taupo, and while he feels he has "catching up to do," the Perth-born driver is happy with his trajectory.
“It's just all about trying to find my feet again,” Kostecki told Supercars.com at Winton.
"I guess it's like riding a bike — you have a few wobbles, and then you find your feet. I'm still a little bit behind the car. So, yeah, have a few small things to work on for the rest of the day.
“I've got a little bit of catching up to do, but I’m not too bothered. I've been working very closely with George [Commins, engineer], we spent the last three days together and been out in Norwell a fair bit since the announcement.
"But, I've had a few tune ups from a few people around the joint that have been very pivotal in my career so far to date. But, so far pretty happy with the day so far.”
Since the Monday announcement, Kostecki has turned laps at Norwell Motorplex, got to work with engineer Commins, and clocked laps on the simulator.
“It’s great to be back here doing a test day before New Zealand and have Brodie in the car alongside Jack,” Erebus CEO Barry Ryan told Supercars.com at Winton.
“It's sort of back to normal, we would have liked to start the year like that but unfortunately we couldn’t. It's just great to see Brodie happy and healthy and ready to go.
"It's just like we left Adelaide at the end of last year, it's always a good vibe here and we all know each other really well, we've been together a long time.
"He's just done his homework in the background, prepared himself, spent a lot of time with Paul [Morris] at Norwell, on his sim, all the stuff that makes him as good as he is.
"You don't need to push Brodie. He pushes himself and pushes us hard enough that we don't need to push him.”
Kostecki, who is running the champion's #1 at the test day, added he is "pretty confident" Erebus will be fighting towards the front in Taupo.
“It's great to see a lot of the boys in the team,” Kostecki said.
“To be able to run the #1 and show all the hard work that they put in last year, and see all their smiles on their faces. It's been pretty cool.
“We've still got a little bit of work to do. We'll see how we can go to Taupo. Yeah, anything's possible. So far, had a pretty good day behind the wheel.
“We'll just focus on ourselves like how we did last year. We'll see how we end up, but I'm pretty confident we'll be up towards the front.”
Erebus is fifth in the teams' championship standings heading to the inaugural Taupō event on April 19-21. Fans are encouraged to secure their ticket options, with Saturday and Sunday general admission and grandstand allocations exhausted.
