Brown, Kostecki steer Australia to ROC final

Supercars champions Will Brown and Brodie Kostecki have joined forces to take Australia to the Race of Champions Nations Cup final, which was won by France in a thrilling finish.

Brown and Kostecki, former teammates and the last two Supercars drivers' champions, were headline acts at the first of two nights at Sydney’s Accor Stadium on Friday.

At the end of the night, which was dedicated to team competitions, Team France defeated Team Australia Supercars in a tense three-part decider.

Brown defeated nine-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb in the first leg of the final, before Kostecki was beaten by Formula 2 driver Victor Martins in the second leg.

It came down to a decider in a best-of-three race between Brown and Martins, with the duo neck-and-neck for much of the race before the latter pinched victory for France.

It was an impressive showing by two of Supercars' best, with Kostecki a last-minute call-up to replace Jamie Whincup, who withdraw amid the impending arrival of Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

“I was just trying to make it all up in the last corner,” Brown said after the race.

“It’s like when you make a mistake on your qualifying lap, and you try to make it all up and you just run off, but that was pretty much what I was doing on the last corner.

“I was thinking, ‘Do I cut through the barrier and just turn him like Supercars?’ But no, I knew it was going to be tough to get that one.

"It was cool. That’s cool to hear the crowd was going off.”

Supercars rival Chaz Mostert was part of the Team All-Star pairing that beat 2023 winners, Norway's father-son duo of Petter Solberg and Oliver Solberg.

Later, Brown and Kostecki defeated the might of German stars Sebastian Vettel and Mick Schumacher in the semi-finals. Kostecki beat Schumacher in the first leg before Brown defeated Vettel, setting up the Australia Supercars and France final.

The Race of Champions will continue at Accor Stadium on Saturday, where individuals will compete for the Champion of Champions title.

Brown, Mostert and Kostecki will resume their Supercars campaigns in Melbourne next weekend.