Randle denies Kostecki perfect weekend
Thomas Randle put an end to Brodie Kostecki's near-perfect opening weekend by securing the final Dunlop Super2 Series race win at the Superloop Adelaide 500.
Having finished runner-up to Kostecki in the first two races, MW Motorsport's Randle took the lead on lap 3 after the Eggleston Motorsport driver made a costly mistake at Turn 4.
Kostecki overshot the corner and ran down the escape road, gifting the race lead to Randle, who ultimately finished 2.3575 seconds clear of next-best Will Brown.
Race 1 and 2 victor Kostecki recovered from fifth to take third and the round honours, but had to battle fourth-placed Jordan Boys late in the piece for the position.
On the other end of the spectrum, Jack Perkins was again caught up in an incident – this time with Josh Fife – completing a disastrous weekend for the Eggleston veteran.
Debutant Jayden Ojeda continued his strong weekend, finishing fifth and ahead of Matt Chahda, who took a career-best fifth yesterday and positive sixth today.
As racing got underway for a final time this weekend in Adelaide, Kostecki got a clean getaway and looked to have a comfortable lead over Randle early.
That was until his costly mistake on the third lap, which elevated Randle into the race lead, Brown into second and Boys to third.
Seven laps in, Perkins got into the right-rear of Fife, which spun the rookie and sent the 23Red Racing enduro recruit into the right-side barriers in the process.
With nowhere to go, Zak Best slammed into Fife, triggering MWM boss Matt White to blast some “pretty average driving” on the broadcast.
Zane Morse and Kurt Kostecki also arrived on the scene, but managed to escape damage.
Best limped back to pitlane and soldiered on to make the finish, while Perkins and Fife were both unable to continue.
That incident, which will be investigated post-race, brought out the Safety Car, which lasted until lap 11. Once racing resumed, Randle controlled proceedings for the remaining seven laps, shortened by two.
“Wow, that car was really good. We got really lucky with what happened with Brodie," Randle said.
"The Safety Car sort of stuffed us up a bit because I think the gap was pretty good there with where [Kostecki] was for us to win the round, but look, I gave it everything and it’s a great way to start the round.
“The team have given me an awesome car. It’s a great car to drive and I’m looking forward, fingers crossed, to the next round.”
Randle’s ability to take part in the second round at Symmons Plains in April is to be determined as he battles testicular cancer.
Brodie Kostecki and Boys battled it out late in the race for third, until the former secured the position at the final corner of the penultimate lap with a bold move.
Tickford Racing's Broc Feeney took seventh, ahead of Kurt Kostecki who recovered to eighth after getting caught up in the earlier incident.
Triple Eight's Angelo Mouzouris narrowly missed the lap 7 carnage and went on to finish ninth, while Morse bounced back to round out the top 10.
Dunlop Super2 Series standings
1. Brodie Kostecki 286
2. Thomas Randle 284
3. Will Brown 264
4. Jordan Boys 222
5. Jayden Ojeda 210
6. Matt Chahda 206
7. Kurt Kostecki 188
8. Broc Feeney 180
9. Zak Best 168
10. Angelo Mouzouris 154
11. Josh Fife 104
12. Zane Morse 96
13. Jack Perkins 38*
*Perkins copped a 30-point penalty for his Race 3 collision with Josh Fife
