Kostecki doubles up, Triple Eight falter again

Brodie Kostecki has extended his lead for the 2026 Boost Mobile Pole Award, claiming his sixth pole of the season for Race 21 at the NTI Townsville 500.

The 2024 Bathurst winner put it all on the line at Reid Park, admitting he nearly crashed on his Top Ten Shootout run as he pipped Matt Payne by just over a tenth of a second to continue his stranglehold on Townsville qualifying.

The star of qualifying was Tickford's Thomas Randle, who looked on course for a shock pole position after piecing together a brilliant Shootout lap, before settling into third.

Triple Eight's qualifying nightmare continued, a strategic gamble for Will Brown backfiring spectacularly, and Broc Feeney bringing up the rear of the second segment of qualifying.

Race 21 will commence at 3:05pm AEST, and will feature two refuelling stops over 200km.

Q1

All eyes were on Red Bull Ampol Racing after their Friday qualifying stumble, whilst Matt Payne had the championship leader's orange numbers on his Penrite Racing Mustang for the first time since March.

There was a huge field spread after the opening run, with a mix of tyres used by the 26 cars. Aaron Cameron set a 1:13.8583s to go fastest, a full second slower than Brodie Kostecki's Friday pole time.

Kostecki flexed his muscle again to top Q1 on a 1:13.2188s, though still four tenths down on his Friday marker, though he had two tenths in hand over Cam Waters, who punched his marker on a second flyer.

Both Red Bull Ampol Racing Fords safely progressed through, with Will Brown in 10th and Broc Feeney a little less comfortable in 15th, complaining of inside front locking.

Tickford wildcard Reuben Goodall went within 0.03s of progressing through to Q2, and will start 19th for his second career Supercars start.

Finals contender Jack Le Brocq was also knocked out in a disappointing 20th, followed by the three Brad Jones Racing Toyotas of Macauley Jones, Andre Heimgartner, and Cameron Hill, as the Albury squad's struggles continued.

Jobe Stewart, Aaron Seton, and Declan Fraser were also Q1 eliminations.

Q2

Brown immediately upped the ante, going faster than he did in Q1 to set a 1:13.4827s on his first run, just under a tenth of a second quicker than David Reynolds.

Such was Brown's time, that Triple Eight were willing to risk skipping the second run, the 2024 champion jumping out of the car and facing a nervous wait.

Kostecki was the first to knock off Brown on a 1:13.1474s, which itself was beaten by championship leader Payne on a 1:13.0307s, which handed the Penrite star provisional pole.

Within the space of a minute, Brown had plummeted from first to ninth, which became 10th when Aaron Cameron bumped into the top 10 from 17th.

Brown fended off rookie Zach Bates by the barest of margins, the Bendix Camaro setting an identical time of a 1:13.4827s, but slotting in behind on account of being the second driver to set the time.

However, Chaz Mostert would bump his way in, before James Golding, who had missed the majority of the session with CoolDrive Mustang that wouldn't start, sensationally leapt to fifth at the death.

That demoted Brown to 12th, whilst Broc Feeney was last in Q2, buried back in 18th with a complete lack of pace.

Anton De Pasquale will start alongside Brown in 11th, with Bates, Jackson Walls, Cooper Murray, Reynolds, Jayden Ojeda, and Feeney rounding out the eliminated drivers.

Top Ten Shootout

Chaz Mostert's initial marker of a 1:13.4533s essentially matched his Q2 effort, but was immediately knocked off by Kai Allen on a 1:13.3349s.

Aaron Cameron then knocked off Allen, moving the marker with a full-commitment 1:13.2649s, which held up against Shootout debutant Rylan Gray, but not Thomas Randle's 1:12.8963s.

James Golding, teammate Cam Waters, and Ryan Wood were all unable to join Randle in the 1:12 bracket, leaving just Brodie Kostecki and Matt Payne between Randle and a breakthrough pole for 2026.

Friday pole sitter Kostecki was superb on his lap, going almost a quarter of a second faster than Randle to move the pole marker to a 1:12.6622s.

However, it wasn't without close calls, Kostecki admitting over radio he almost crashed at Turn 3 after jumping all four wheels across the inside kerb.

Payne was just under a tenth down to the first sector, but pieced together the fastest second sector of the Shootout with a noticeably tidier run out of Turn 3 and through the chicane at Turns 6 and 7.

However, his final sector wasn't enough to convert the speed, with the championship leader to start alongside the year's winningest driver on the front row.

The remainder of the top 10 order was Randle, Wood, Waters, Cameron, Allen, Golding, Mostert, and Gray.