DJR chief demands end to 'unforced errors'

Dick Johnson Racing Executive Chairman Dr Ryan Story AM has admitted that his team needs to lift in the second half of the season for Brodie Kostecki to be a serious title threat.

2023 champion Kostecki has single-handedly trumped DJR's combined Gen3 win and podium tally from the last three seasons, and levelled the corresponding pole tally, in a storming start to the season.

Yet, Dr Story AM isn't satisfied, having watched his leading charge slip back in the points standings over the last few months, having led the championship in the early rounds from Melbourne to the final race in Christchurch.

While missing the Darwin finale was a big blow, DJR has continued to bleed points with several pit stop errors, with races in Townsville and Perth falling apart for the 2024 Bathurst winner.

But, there is still a lot to play for over the next three events, even if the Repco Sprint Cup is out of reach at its Ipswich finale. Despite that, a potential third seeding for the Finals is very much on the cards given Kostecki's brilliant 2025 AirTouch 500 at The Bend victory.

“We can get ourselves back into third, which would be fantastic," said Dr Story AM on the PG and the Doc podcast.

“I would grade our year to date at about a B+, and I think that’s probably a kind mark. I think we’ve done pretty well, but there’s significant room for improvement.

The slip has come as Penrite Racing has firmly established itself as the benchmark for both outright speed and execution, though Red Bull Ampol Racing made a big stride forward in Perth with Broc Feeney.

Kostecki also started the weekend slightly off the pace in the west, only battling in the middle of the top 10 across Saturday, with a controversial collision with Kai Allen ultimately sending him to last in the opener.

However, improvements made on Sunday bucked the trend of the #17 Ford fading as the weekend goes on, yet Dr Story reiterated that more is needed from both car and pit performance.

“We just need to knock out some of those unforced errors and improve the error rate, and just continue to improve and keep getting better," he continued.

“Keep improving our processes, and eliminating the error rate, is something that will hold us in very good stead as we get ever closer to those longer races obviously, and the Finals Series.

“We wanna win this thing, and to win this thing first of all it needs to be on track. If we’re losing in pit lane, if we’re losing it by not giving Bush a super fast car, then that’s absolutely on us.

“We need to give him the tools to do the job, and we need to do the same with Rylan too.”

Ultimately, Dr Story has implored his team to lift to the standards of the two lead teams in pit lane, and has declared that they won't be able to do so at their current performance level.

"We need to be an A, A+ because everyone else is," he stated.

"You can't beat these other teams — and Grove are a phenomenal team, Triple Eight are a phenomenal team — we can't beat them if we're competing at the level we're at now.

'We need to rise not only to where they're at, but above, and we need to be better."

Kostecki is fourth in the standings, with Allen and Anton De Pasquale both within 55 points of the #17 Ford ahead of the Century Batteries Ipswich Super 440 from August 21-23.

Season statistics: Dick Johnson Racing

*2026 statistics correct to Century Batteries Ipswich Super 440