Brodie Kostecki shrugs off Bend race day slump for #17
Kostecki/Todd Hazelwood Ford raced from pole to 15th
Hazelwood dropped to 20th in opening stint in wet conditons
Shell V-Power Racing Team star Brodie Kostecki has pushed past his Bend shocker, which he labelled an "outlier.”
Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood head to Bathurst looking to bounce back, having toiled through a troubled run from pole to 15th in the AirTouch 500 at The Bend.
The Kostecki/Hazelwood Mustang was a raging favourite for the Ryco Enduro Cup, but heads to Bathurst on the back foot.
However, Kostecki — who has more wins than anyone else in 2026 — is adamant the #17’s rotten race day at The Bend was an aberration.
“Ultimately I’m just focused on making it to Sunday first and trying to get my hands on the Peter Brock Trophy again would be great with my good mate Toddy,” Kostecki said.
“We’ve had really good car speed lately and the team has been in form.
“The Bend was a bit of an outlier for us, but we’ll regroup and go again.”
The Dick Johnson Racing camp claimed a tyre batch issue was behind Hazelwood’s Bend slump, which saw the #17 Ford drop from pole to 20th — 40 seconds from the lead — in just 20 laps.
“We both know that both [DJR] cars started on wet tyres and they both started on the same tyre pressures and there was a really big pace difference,” Kostecki said.
“Ultimately we got on a different set of wets and the car was fine, so there is still a lot to unpack for that. We want to try to be on top of it into the biggest race of the season.”
Kostecki is shooting for a record fourth consecutive Bathurst pole, which would take him past the runs of Allan Moffat (1970-72) and Peter Brock (1977-79).
Track action at Mount Panorama commences on Thursday October 8.
