Kostecki shrugs off points lead pressure

Supercars points leader Brodie Kostecki will continue to take each race as it comes, despite becoming the hunted.

Kostecki snatched the championship lead after a stunning performance at the Beaurepaires Melbourne SuperSprint.

The Erebus Motorsport Chevrolet driver won two races and scored two podiums to win the Larry Perkins Trophy.

The 25-year-old entered the weekend 45 points down on Chaz Mostert, and is now 32 points ahead.

An Erebus driver has never before led the points — and they also lead the teams’ championship, given Will Brown’s improved form.

The next question is how Kostecki approaches racing with the orange numbers on the door, given there are still 10 rounds and 3060 points left.

Speaking on the Schick Cool Down Lap podcast, Kostecki is taking each race on merit, rather than thinking long game.

“I take one day as it comes,” Kostecki said.

“I’m not really that sort of person that looks months or weeks down the track.

“I take each race as it comes. I went into this race knowing that I started 14th, and I’ve got job to do moving forward.

“I made a mistake in qualifying, so I had to capitalise on it.

“We played the strategy out well, and it makes it easy too when you have a fast car.”

Kostecki’s closest rival in Melbourne, Shane van Gisbergen, is just 86 points behind.

The two Chevrolet drivers were joined at the hip at Albert Park, and cunning strategy in the finale helped Kostecki emerge on top.

It helped Erebus win the Perkins Trophy, a reward made sweeter by team CEO Barry Ryan’s history with Perkins himself.

Ryan worked for Perkins Engineering between 2003 and 2008 before later moving into team management.

The Perkins connection wasn’t lost on Kostecki, who is now preparing for his first home race as championship leader.

“It was pretty surreal crossing the line today,” Kostecki said.

“I was happy I got my first wins yesterday and the day before.

“But crossing the line third today knowing I was going to collect the Larry Perkins Trophy for the team.

“I was pumped crossing the line. That trophy means a lot to our team, with Barry's history with Larry.”

The Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint will be held on April 28-30.