Brave Kostecki defies illness, Payne on Friday pole in AGP qualifying

The Mustangs of Brodie Kostecki and Matt Payne have marched to pole position for the first two races at the Melbourne SuperSprint.

Shell V-Power Racing Team driver Kostecki defied mid-session illness in the car to claim his first pole at Albert Park since 2023, before Bathurst champion Payne denied Kostecki a pole double in the second session.

There were smiles aplenty for Walkinshaw TWG Racing, with Chaz Mostert fifth and fourth for the two sessions, and Ryan Wood third in the second session.

Championship leader Broc Feeney qualified third and fifth, with Will Brown only 12th and 10th.

Race 4 qualifying

There was drama from the outset, with Macauley Jones stranded in the paddock with no oil pressure.

Drivers fired in laps to get themselves up the grid, amid the threat of red flags. Cam Waters side-stepped the field as James Golding went fastest after the first laps with a 1:48.0827s, followed by Cooper Murray, Wood, Jack Le Brocq, Kostecki and Mostert.

Waters went around for a second lap, but was only good enough for ninth with a 1:48.5932s.

Teammate Thomas Randle set about jumping up the order as the final minute wound down. As the chequered flag flew, Randle moved to seventh, with Feeney 11th, Brown 13th and Payne 18th.

Payne found a swag of speed in the final corner and moved to first with a 1:47.8895s, before Feeney, Kostecki and Golding improved. Waters got a lap in and went to eighth, handing pole to Kostecki, who immediately jumped out of the car to clean himself up.

The only scares of the session were for Rylan Gray and Declan Fraser, who went off at Turn 11 and Turn 10 respectively.

Murray, meanwhile, was placed under investigation over a yellow flag breach. The Erebus Motorsport driver qualified 10th, some 13 positions ahead of teammate Jobe Stewart, who didn't set a lap due to mechanical issues.

Attention quickly turned to Kostecki, though, who retreated from his car with vomit on his overalls and throughout his cabin.

Race 5 qualifying

Kostecki dusted himself off and returned to the field with his rivals, with Jones also released onto the circuit after rapid repairs.

Armed with only eight minutes, drivers hurriedly tried to make an impact on the time sheets. Waters went first, and nailed a 1:48.0447s, only for Feeney and Brown to march ahead.

The brave Kostecki went faster with a 1:47.4695s, before Payne edged just ahead by 0.03s. Mostert and Wood threatened to go faster, only to make it a WTWGR three-four result.

Golding sat 22nd, and on his second push lap, was only good enough for 17th. Stewart, meanwhile, was again 23rd after a half-spin at Turn 3.

All told, it revealed Payne as pole sitter for a Supercars race for the first time in nearly a year, dating back to Taupō last April.

Feeney, Murray, De Pasquale, Cameron, Le Brocq and Brown rounded out the top 10, with Waters only 11th.

Race 4 will commence at 5:00pm local time on Thursday, with Race 5 to start at 5:30pm on Friday.