Kostecki's early title statement with imposing 59% record
DJR star Brodie Kostecki has spent just 11 racing laps outside the top 10
Championship heads to New Zealand with 73% of laps in the top five
Cam Waters sits second overall despite spending 10% of laps in top three
Supercars championship leader Brodie Kostecki's strong start to 2026 is highlighted by a closer look at how long each driver has spent at the top.
The Shell V-Power Racing star snatched the championship lead at the Melbourne SuperSprint, where he won three of four races, and claimed a second Larry Perkins Trophy win.
Armed with a lightning fast #17 Mustang, Kostecki has been the standout across the opening seven races, spending 142 laps (73.19%) in the top five, and 115 laps (59.28%) in the top three.
Across the first 194 racing laps of the season, Kostecki has only spent only 11 laps (5.67%) outside the top 10. Remarkably, 10 of those laps came in the opening race of the season, when he lost out in the pit cycle.
Kostecki's 115 laps in the top three this season better next best Broc Feeney's 106 (54.64%), while his 142 laps in the top five also better next best Matt Payne's 138 (71.13%).
Feeney has led the most laps with 67 (34.54%), ahead of Kostecki and Anton De Pasquale (45 laps each). Team 18 driver De Pasquale led 45 of 52 laps in Race 2 in Sydney, which is Chevrolet's only podium finish this season.
In a head scratcher, Tickford Racing's Cam Waters sits second in the championship, despite only completing 20 laps in the top three (10.31%) and 87 in the top five (44.85%).
Waters has finished no better than third, yet no worse than sixth, to rise to second amid DNFs in Melbourne for both Payne and Feeney, who led the points during the Grand Prix weekend.
As early as the first race in New Zealand, Waters could emerge as a shock championship leader despite not having a race win or pole position to his name, such has been the rollercoaster nature of 2026.
Feeney, De Pasquale, Payne and Kostecki have each led the championship at some stage throughout the first two rounds. In contrast, only four drivers — Waters, Feeney, Will Brown and Chaz Mostert — led the championship throughout the entirety of 2025.
2024 Supercars champion Brown's torrid run to 13th in points is headlined by just 13 laps in the top three (6.70%) and 46 in the top five (22.23%).
It's a dramatic drop-off for Brown versus his championship campaign, when he spent 54% of the entire season in the top three positions.
The 2026 Supercars season will resume at Taupō on April 10-12, where drivers will vie for victory in dual 120km sprints and a 200km refuelling race.
