How Kostecki 'fluke' masked Tasmania setback

Championship contender Brodie Kostecki claims he “fluked” his provisional pole lap on Tasmania Sunday, which precedes a troubled run to 12th.

The Shell V-Power Racing Team driver fell from fifth to 12th in Sunday’s Tyrepower Tasmania Super 440, amid fuel issues and car concerns that the team will investigate.

Kostecki began the day on the charge after being undone in a clash with David Reynolds, with the damaged #17 Ford crawling home to 24th and last.

Fighting a car that was hopping and "bouncing" around Symmons Plains, Kostecki nailed a lap good enough for provisional pole in Boost Mobile Qualifying.

However, he was only good enough for fifth in the Shootout, before falling away to 12th by race’s end, over 40 seconds behind winner Broc Feeney.

Speaking on his Lucky Dogs podcast, the 2023 Supercars champion conceded something was “off” when he rolled out on Sunday morning.

"I was losing a bit in quali because something was off from the crash the day before,” Kostecki said.

"I was bouncing, like really bad, and you could actually see the vision down to the hairpin, something was off with the car. Then I completely fluked that [qualifying] lap, to be honest.”

Where it fell his way in qualifying, it turned around in the Shootout. As fate would have it, it was that performance that carried over into the race.

"I fluked it in qualifying where I got the bounce and it made me turn,” Kostecki continued.

"Whereas [in the Shootout], it just made me understeer, and then turns out in the race, we did that every single lap. I didn't really enjoy myself.

"I had a fuelling issue, so had to save a fair bit of fuel. But to be honest, it didn't really change my race too much. We had a pretty big drama.”

Kostecki is 173 points behind Feeney heading to Darwin on June 19-21.