Brown beats Kostecki to Sandown 500 pole
Supercars
16 Sep
Click here for Top Ten Shootout results
Brown beats Erebus teammate Kostecki to Sandown 500 pole
Brown takes first pole since Townsville in July
Waters and Davison form all-Ford second row, Feeney fifth
Will Brown has beaten Erebus Motorsport teammate Brodie Kostecki to pole position for the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 in an enthralling ARMOR ALL Top Ten Shootout.
The two Coca-Cola Camaros will share the front row for the first Sandown 500 since 2019, with Cam Waters and Will Davison making it an all-Ford second row.
Brown managed to turn the tables on Kostecki, who claimed provision pole in ARMOR ALL Qualifying earlier on Saturday.
The end margin between the two Coca-Cola Chevrolets was 0.1862s, with Brown’s 1:08.6693s the best time in the first Sandown 500 Shootout since 2007.
Kostecki, last man out, stumbled across the Turn 2/3/4 section, but came home with a wet sail to put Brown under pressure. It wasn’t enough, Brown taking his first pole since Townsville.
It was Erebus’ second Sandown 500 pole, after David Reynolds and Luke Youlden claimed Saturday honours in 2018. On that day, both drivers claimed pole in short sprint races.
Today, it was down to the individual, with Brown — who is moving to Red Bull Ampol Racing in 2024 — putting one on his teammate, who has won four of the last five races.
It was also the first time a team locked out the front row of a Sandown 500 since 1998, with Holden Racing Team teammates Greg Murphy and Mark Skaife turning in a lockout the year Brown was born.
Sunday’s race is a major opportunity for Erebus to put more breathing room in front of Triple Eight, with Broc Feeney fifth in the Shootout. Shane van Gisbergen missed the Shootout altogether, qualifying 19th.
"I'm pretty pumped about this one, enduro season's always awesome,” said Brown, who is sharing with Jack Perkins.
"To get pole at the Sandown 500 is amazing, I knew I had a really fast teammate going out behind me. I had to put a good lap together, so absolutely stoked.
"The Coca-Cola Camaro was pretty quick, that's for sure. I just had to do a tidy lap, not make any mistakes, and that's what I did."
Waters made a net gain of five positions, having qualified eighth. The 2017 Sandown 500 winner is sharing the #6 Monster Energy Mustang with James Moffat, with Davison just behind in the #17 Shell V-Power Ford.
Feeney was fifth in the Shootout, having qualified third, and will share the #88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro with five-time Sandown 500 winner Jamie Whincup. Feeney
Sixth on the grid will be the Todd Hazelwood/Tim Blanchard #3 CoolDrive Mustang, with Hazelwood an impressive standout on Saturday with his 1:09.0636s.
Matt Payne was first man out in the #19 Penrite Mustang, and will start Sunday’s race with French co-driver Kevin Estre off the fourth row.
Penrite Racing teammate David Reynolds was eighth, and will race with 2016 Sandown 500 winner Garth Tander. Thomas Randle (#55 Castrol Mustang) and Jack Le Brocq (#34 Truck Assist Camaro) ended up ninth and 10th.
The finishing order of the Shootout set the grid for Sunday's 500km feature event, which will commence at 2:15pm. Supercars return to the track on Sunday for the Warm Up at 10:10am AEST.
