Why Tasmania will be a pivotal marker for hungry Kostecki

One of the key storylines of the 2026 Repco Supercars Championship has been the resurgence in form of both Dick Johnson Racing and talisman Brodie Kostecki.

Both team and driver have won more races than all others this year with five apiece, and had it not been for a headline-grabbing collision with Chaz Mostert in Christchurch, would still be leading the championship.

Alas, sitting second in points and just 23 points behind leader Broc Feeney is a huge step forward from where he was heading into Tasmania last year, when he faced an 111-point deficit back in sixth in the standings.

However, if there's one thing we know about Brodie Kostecki, it's that his desire to win is arguably the strongest in the field, a point that he emphasised as he reflected after his wild conclusion to Christchurch.

"It's the fourth round in, the championship concludes on the Sunday in Adelaide," said Kostecki in Christchurch.

"I'm just focused on what we can do better, obviously today we still had pretty good pace in the race but just started too far back.

"We've got things we can work on, so just trying to channel me energy into things that we can control, and the rest will take care of itself."

Being in the process of making the move to win the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy wasn't enough for the 2024 Bathurst winner. He wants to be ruthless, as he was when he won the 2023 championship at Erebus.

That's what makes the next stop at Tasmania all the more important for the team, given the struggles they experienced at Symmons Plains 12 months ago.

The weekend started well enough, qualifying fifth for the first race, but being demoted back down to ninth after spinning Ryan Wood at the hairpin in Race 11 Qualifying.

From that moment onward it seemed to unravel. After finishing eighth on road in Race 11, Kostecki and then-teammate Will Davison were both disqualified from the results, after skid blocks that were alleged to have been illegally sanded were found on the front bars of both cars.

Matters only compounded from there, ending up buried down in 21st and 20th on the grid for the second and third races of the weekend.

Whilst he fought his way back to 12th in the second of the Saturday races, he couldn't do the same on the Sunday, as he was wiped out by Bryce Fullwood just prior to halfway, finishing 12 laps down in 22nd.

All told, Kostecki wound up 21st for the round in points, and fell from 111 points off the championship lead to 298 points behind the lead, a swing against him to the tune of 187 points.

A similar performance in a few weeks' time would change the complexion of the battle for the Repco Sprint Cup entirely, given Kostecki is in the middle of a three-way fight alongside Feeney and Matt Payne, with the trio separated by 46 points.

Kostecki is just 23 points off Feeney for the lead, and given Triple Eight's continual improvement with their Ford Mustangs, and Penrite Racing coming off the back of their best ever multi-race weekend means that any slip from DJR or Kostecki will likely be punished.

There's no question that Brodie Kostecki will be a contender when the points are reset for the Finals, however whether he will be a hunter or the hunted remains to be seen. In fact, it's even divided opinions among the Supercars.com editorial team.

However, if DJR can reverse their Tasmania form from 2025, there's no reason why he can't go into the Gold Coast at the top of the pile. Given how fast the #17 has been this year, there's every chance it could happen.

The views in this article do not necessarily express the opinions of Supercars, teams or drivers.