Kostecki beats Feeney, Brown fails to reach Bend Shootout

Brodie Kostecki has denied championship leader Broc Feeney in Boost Mobile Qualifying at the AirTouch 500 at The Bend, with Will Brown only 16th.

Dick Johnson Racing star Kostecki and Triple Eight star Feeney were split by just 0.0081s through 20 minutes of qualifying, with Ford duo Cam Waters and Ryan Wood third and fourth ahead of surprise packet Cameron Hill.

Ford trio Thomas Randle, Matt Payne and Chaz Mostert were sixth through eighth, with Anton De Pasquale and Cooper Murray sealing passage into the Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout.

However, the same couldn't be said for Brown, who after watching his car get taken out in morning practice, was only 16th and 0.7s off his former teammate's pace.

"It was a lot of pressure in that session, on the first run we weren't looking too good, but we just stuck to our base and just tuned up our tyres a little bit to get them in the right window," said Kostecki, who has three poles to his name this season.

"It's a massive credit to everyone at Shell V-Power Racing, it's been a little bit of a tough weekend so far, but luckily I've got such a pro in my co-driver Todd [Hazelwood], who has been able to tune the car up a little bit in his sessions.

"I'm looking forward to the Shootout coming up this arvo, I'm sure it'll be tough as it starts to cool down, but stoked to be on provisional pole, but there's still a lot to play out."

Matt Stone Racing's Nick Percat launched to the top early with a 1:49.9732s, ahead of Erebus Motorsport's Jack Le Brocq, Feeney, Murray and Brad Jones Racing's Jaxon Evans. Randle was first Ford with a 1:50.2494s, with PremiAir Racing teammates Richie Stanaway and James Golding yet to record a representative lap through 15 minutes.

Will Davison, meanwhile, ground to a halt at pit exit. At the time, Davison was only 18th, with a loose front right wheel behind the #17 Shell V-Power Ford's stoppage. Davison was 25th by the time the Shell V-Power Ford returned to the track, and was only 21st by session's end.

Team 18 veteran David Reynolds fired to top spot with a 1:49.9093s as the balance of the field hit the track, with teammate De Pasquale jumping ahead by 0.162s with a 1:49.7469s.

Wood (1:49.5469s) and Waters (1:49.8856s) sandwiched De Pasquale, before Kostecki (1:49.5716s), Randle (1:49.7279s), Percat (1:49.8920s) and Payne (1:49.8978s) also improved.

Ahead of the final runs, the provisional 10 was Wood, Kostecki, Randle, De Pasquale, Waters, Percat, Payne, Reynolds, Mostert and Le Brocq. Feeney was 11th, with Brown 20th.

De Pasquale and Waters lit up the timing screens to the first sector, as Feeney pressed on to try and seal passage into the top 10. The championship leader jumped to top spot with a 1:49.4028s, with Hill moving to fourth.

Waters fell 0.054s short of Feeney as the chequered flag flew, with Mostert improving to sixth. Kostecki marched on and recorded a 1:49.3947s to deny Feeney by 0.008s.

Brown, though, remonstrated over team radio and was only 16th, 0.7s off the pace.

Wildcard entries Cameron Crick (24th), Zach Bates (26th) and Rylan Gray (27th) all missed out, with Bryce Fullwood the lowest full-time driver in 25th.

The top 10 drivers will vie for pole in the Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout at 4:50pm local/5:20pm AEST.