Kostecki takes crucial pole in dramatic Gold Coast Shootout
Brodie Kostecki claims crucial Gold Coast pole in incident-packed Shootout
Shane van Gisbergen, Anton De Pasquale pick up kerb strikes
Cam Waters runs off at Turn 11, Will Brown crashes at first chicane
Brodie Kostecki has claimed a crucial ARMOR ALL Pole Position in an incident-packed Top Ten Shootout at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500.
Kostecki, who was sixth man out in the one-lap dash, scored his eighth pole of the season as his primary rivals struck trouble.
Last man out Cam Waters, who won Saturday’s race from pole, ran long at Turn 11 and will start seventh for Race 26, which will start at 2:15pm local time/3:15pm AEDT.
Waters was one of four drivers to encounter trouble, with Will Brown crashing at the first chicane. Shane van Gisbergen and Anton De Pasquale, picked up kerb strikes.
With van Gisbergen set to start ninth, Kostecki is in the box seat to extend his championship lead, which was slashed to 104 points in Saturday’s race.
“That was probably the best lap of my career,” said Kostecki, who clinched the ARMOR ALL Pole Champion Award on Saturday.
"You've got to take a lot of risks to get the lap time out of the car... George [Commins, race engineer] got it tuned up quite nicely then for the heat, and it was a dream to drive.
"We're fighting for millimetres around here. It's pretty hard to see the kerbs in these cars, because we sit a bit lower.
"Very small mistakes, very big price. We'll see what happens. I got through to fifth last race, so I have no doubt [van Gisbergen] will come through in the race."
Only six drivers set a competitive lap, with David Reynolds (#26 Penrite Mustang) to share the front row with the #99 Coca-Cola Camaro.
Matt Payne (#19 Penrite Mustang) and Chaz Mostert (#25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang) will share the second row, ahead of Mark Winterbottom (#18 DEWALT Camaro) and James Golding (#31 Nulon Camaro).
Waters and Brown both finished their laps, albeit 10 and 18 seconds off the pace respectively, to start seventh and eighth.
De Pasquale will start 10th after triggering the kerb sensor at Turn 2, with van Gisbergen registering a strike at the beach chicane.
The Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 will conclude with Race 26 at 2:15pm local time/3:15pm AEDT.
