Kostecki denies Waters to take Bend sweep
Brodie Kostecki has taken a big step towards the 2023 championship, holding off Cam Waters to seal an OTR SuperSprint clean sweep.
Kostecki (#99 Coca-Cola Camaro) won all three races on a weekend for the first time, with Waters (#6 Monster Energy Mustang) just 0.9468s away by the chequered flag.
Thomas Randle (#55 Castrol Mustang) made it three podiums in as many starts, with Nick Percat (#2 Mobil 1 NTI Mustang) a standout fourth for Walkinshaw Andretti United.
It could prove a defining weekend in the championship hunt, with Kostecki’s closest rivals all encountering misfortune in the 20-lapper.
Will Brown (#9 Coca-Cola Camaro) spun en route to 13th, Shane van Gisbergen (#97 Red Bull Ampol Camaro) is being investigated over a pit stop breach, and Broc Feeney (#88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro) was turned around on the penultimate lap.
Heading to the Penrite Oil Sandown 500, the first enduro of the year, Kostecki leads by 137 points over van Gisbergen, with Feeney and Brown 226 and 258 points back.
Erebus Motorsport extended its teams’ championship margin over Triple Eight to 107 points, having led by 43 heading into the weekend.
It came on a weekend The Bend recorded its biggest crowd since the inaugural OTR SuperSprint in 2018, with a total attendance of 41,237.
Percat made a flying start from fourth to challenge pole man Kostecki into Turn 1, with Waters dropping behind Randle into fourth.
Waters quickly picked off Randle at Turn 6 and set off after Percat, with Kostecki enjoying clean air out front. Behind them, Matt Payne (#19 Penrite Mustang) was fifth, ahead of Anton De Pasquale (#11 Shell V-Power Mustang), Will Davison (#17 Shell V-Power Mustang), van Gisbergen, Bryce Fullwood (#14 Middy’s Camaro) and James Courtney (#5 Snowy River Caravans Mustang).
Waters cleared Percat for second at Turn 1 on the second lap, with Kostecki a full second up the road. The margin between Kostecki and Waters would hover at a second towards the stops.
Payne and De Pasquale pitted on lap 5, with a cross-threaded wheel nut ruining the Penrite Racing rookie’s race. Payne would finish 18th.
All the while, Randle passed Percat for third place into Turn 7 on lap 6. Behind them, Brown had jumped from 13th to 10th, only to spear off into Turn 8 on lap 6.
Percat was brought in from fourth on lap 8 and Randle on lap 9, and the two Fords held position.
Van Gisbergen stopped from effective eighth on lap 10 and dropped with the rattle gun still on the right-rear wheel. The incident was placed under investigation, with van Gisbergen later classified fifth.
The margin between the leader two blew out to two seconds by the time Tickford brought Waters in on lap 12, with Erebus responding in kind for Kostecki on lap 13.
Kostecki retook the lead once Mark Winterbottom (#18 DEWALT Camaro) stopped on lap 15, with Waters 1.7s back. Randle, Percat, van Gisbergen, Davison, De Pasquale, Courtney, Fullwood and Feeney completed the top 10.
Feeney emerged 10th after being forced towards the grass on pit straight by Chaz Mostert (#25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang) as they trailed Fullwood, with the WAU driver handed a bad sportsmanship flag over the run-in.
Mostert hounded Feeney and caught air at Turn 2 while trailing the #88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro, and would be classified ninth.
Feeney’s race unravelled when, while ninth, spun out at the final corner on the penultimate lap after a hit from David Reynolds (#26 Penrite Mustang).
Feeney was classified 25th and last, with Reynolds penalised to the tune of 15 seconds. Reynolds had crossed the line ninth, but was reclassified in 20th.
Waters launched a last-ditch attempt on Kostecki, who won his sixth race of the weekend — just days after making his NASCAR Cup Series debut at Indianapolis.
Randle finished six seconds further back in third, ahead of Percat, van Gisbergen, Davison, De Pasquale, Courtney, Mostert and Jack Le Brocq (#34 Truck Assist Camaro).
The 2023 Repco Supercars Championship will switch to enduro mode at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 on September 15-17.
