Kostecki rues costly stop, cause revealed

Brodie Kostecki believes a slow stop in Saturday’s NTI Townsville 500 race “definitely” cost him a shot at victory.

Penrite Racing driver Matt Payne overhauled Kostecki in the first pit sequence after the #17 Ford was delayed on the left rear wheel.

Kostecki recovered to second, albeit nearly 16 seconds behind the dominant Payne, who extended his championship lead with victory.

The stop cost Kostecki nearly 10 seconds, with a Dick Johnson Racing spokesperson confirming to Supercars.com the issue was a cross-threaded wheel nut.

When asked post-race if he felt a chance of winning went begging, the Shell V-Power Racing Team star said: “Yeah, definitely.

"When you lose 10 seconds in the pits, the way the category is today, it’s pretty hard to make that up. We’ll reset and go again tomorrow."

Kostecki quickly turned attention to crew member Charlie Blanshard, who is recovering from surgery after sustaining a finger injury from a rattle gun during Friday's race.

The replacement pit crew member was not responsible for the slow stop in Saturday’s race.

"We had a ring-in today for the stops, after Charlie had an injury yesterday,” Kostecki said.

When asked what his initial reaction to the slow stop was, Kostecki admitted: “I’d get fined if I said what I thought at the time.

“Obviously I wasn't happy, it’s a pretty high pressure environment and everyone’s doing the best they can. Mistakes happen, I’ve made plenty in my time.

“Generally the boys are pretty faultless, to be honest, we’ll reset and go again tomorrow."

The 2023 Supercars champion, though, admitted that his #17 Mustang has more performance to find heading into Sunday’s finale.

“I thought the car was pretty unbalanced in the race today,” Kostecki said.

“It was a little bit slower at the start of the stints, but held onto its tyre really well. We’ll tune that up for tomorrow.”

Kostecki is just 10 points behind third placed Cam Waters, and 197 behind Payne.