'Odd' steering niggles limit Kostecki in Practice 1
Brodie Kostecki was unfazed by a steering niggle which limited the series leader to just seven laps in Practice 1 at the NTI Townsville 500.
Kostecki had an “odd deal” with the steering in his #99 Coca-Cola Camaro on Friday morning in Townsville.
The championship leader managed to set the 11th fastest time, but his seven laps were the fewest of all 25 drivers in the first session.
Erebus Motorsport teammate Will Brown set the quickest time in Practice 1 ahead of Todd Hazelwood and Shane van Gisbergen.
Kostecki’s series lead over Brown was slashed from 109 to 59 points in Darwin after an incident in the final race.
The Perth-born driver has led the standings since Race 6 in Melbourne in April, but is winless in 10 races.
Given the niggle in his handling, Kostecki — who was pleased with the speed in his car — didn’t want to take any risks to early in the Townsville weekend.
“We just had a bit of an odd deal going on with the steering,” Kostecki explained after the session.
“There’s just some pretty fast sections with kerbs here, so I didn’t want to take any risk and write the car off if anything were to happen.
“I just want to make sure it’s all good, but we’ll be back out there for [Practice 2].
“The good thing was I only did a few laps on the car but the car felt pretty solid.
“Obviously Will ending up P1 there is a positive. He got a lot of track time to tune the car up a little, but the car’s rolled out pretty good.”
Van Gisbergen, who was third, was also fighting steering problems, with team boss Jamie Whincup saying "the steering’s not straight under brakes”.
The reigning champion suffered a Friday blowout in Darwin thanks to handling issues, but still managed the second most points for the weekend.
Kostecki continued: "Just a few odd things that’s happening inside the car, just over when you hit some kerbs and braking and whatnot.
“It just didn’t really give me too much confidence and there’s walls either side... if you make a mistake, it’s really punishing.
“The boys will get it fixed up and we’ll be back out there for P2.”
Practice 2 will commence at 2:45pm AEST at the Reid Park Street Circuit.
