The numbers behind Kostecki's championship season
Champion Brodie Kostecki was the class of the field in 2023
Kostecki won six races, claimed 18 podiums and 10 poles
Erebus driver also led the most laps and finished every race
Brodie Kostecki’s 2023 Repco Supercars Championship campaign was as good as they come, with the Erebus Motorsport driver the class of the field.
Kostecki, 26, won the drivers’ championship at the VAILO Adelaide 500 on the weekend, and was voted by his peers as 2023’s Drivers’ Driver.
The West Aussie talent burst out of the blocks in Newcastle in March to claim the first pole position of the Gen3 era, which was a sign of what was to come.
Come Sunday, and as Kostecki celebrated with burnouts on the pit straight, a coronation was complete.
Supercars.com highlights the key numbers that illustrate why Kostecki was a worthy champion in 2023.
Most wins
In a season of 28 races across 12 events, Kostecki won six times — at Albert Park twice, Sydney, and all three races at The Bend. Shane van Gisbergen and Broc Feeney had five each, Will Brown had four, Cam Waters three, and one each for Mark Winterbottom, Jack Le Brocq, Anton De Pasquale, David Reynolds and Matt Payne. In a hotly contested season, which proceeded 10 different winners — only the 2000 and 2013 (13) and 2001, 2014 and 2016 (11) seasons had more — Kostecki won the most, and when it mattered most.
Most podiums
Kostecki was a model of consistency, scoring 18 podiums in 28 starts, including 10 in the first 12. After a mid-season lull, Kostecki came home strong, finishing first or second in eight of the last 12 races. Van Gisbergen and Feeney scored 11 each, with Brown taking nine. Brown, who is off to Triple Eight in 2024, didn’t register a podium in the final 10 races, with Kostecki taking seven. Kostecki also scored 25 top 10s in 28 starts, only missing out due to damage in Tasmania (23rd) and Darwin (26th), and mechanical issues in Townsville (19th).
Most pole positions
Perhaps the most telling stat of Kostecki’s dominance was his 10 ARMOR ALL Pole Positions, including the very first pole in Newcastle. He won the ARMOR ALL Pole Champion Award, and the $10,000 that goes with it. When it mattered most, Kostecki was the fastest driver, taking six of the last nine poles of the year, including the prized Repco Bathurst 1000 pole and both poles at the VAILO Adelaide 500. Next best was Brown was four, with van Gisbergen, Feeney and Waters taking three.
Most laps led
After over 5000km of racing, Kostecki also led the most laps in 2023 with 270, ahead of van Gisbergen (258), Feeney (238) and Brown (200).
Finished every race
In another show of consistency, Kostecki was one of five drivers — along with — Will Davison, Bryce Fullwood, Matt Payne and James Golding — to finish all 28 races in 2023. Feeney did see the chequered flag in the Newcastle opener, but was disqualified over a technical infringement after the race.
Points margin
Aided by van Gisbergen’s double Adelaide DNF, Kostecki officially won the 2023 drivers’ championship by 323 points — the eighth biggest margin of all time. Kostecki led van Gisbergen by 155 points after Sandown, having led by as high as 109 points mid-season before a lull briefly handed the lead to Brown. Only Mark Skaife (658 points in 2002, 603 in 2001), Jamie Whincup (583 in 2014, 339 in 2012), van Gisbergen (615 in 2022) and Scott McLaughlin (562 in 2019, 451 in 2020) had greater margins over their closest rival.
