Wildcard team to contest full PIRTEK Enduro Cup
Dunlop Super2 Series outfit Kostecki Brothers Racing is set to contest all three PIRTEK Enduro Cup events this season via a series of wildcard entries.
KBR’s regular drivers – cousins Brodie and Jake Kostecki – will team up for the Bathurst, Gold Coast and Sandown events, marking the debut for both drivers in the main game.
They will drive the Triple Eight-built Holden currently being run by Jake in Super2, upgraded from VF to ZB specifications, for which the conversion process is already underway.
As part of the shuffle, Brodie will step out of the Super2 Series for the remainder of the season, handing his VF over to Jake.
While 21-year-old Brodie is fourth in the Super2 standings and 19-year-old Jake fifth, the latter is deemed more in need of the extra experience ahead of his main game debut.
Brodie, left, and Jake Kostecki
“Our goal has always been to reach the main game,” Brodie told Supercars.com, having had his first taste of a ZB during a Red Bull HRT evaluation test last week.
“We were looking at a few options for a co-drive and we felt our team has the capability to do it. We have some smart, experienced people, so why not have a crack at it?
“The plan has been in place for a long time, but we just didn’t know exactly how we were going to execute it, if we were going to rent a car or convert one of our own cars.
“With the direction we’ve taken, we thought it would be better to give Jake the extra miles in the next two [Super2] events, rather than myself.”
Although just 19, Jake is already in his fourth Super2 Season with his family-run squad, finishing 18th in the 2018 standings.
Showing significant improvement in the first two events of 2019, the youngest of the Kostecki clan feels he’s ready for Supercars’ biggest events.
Jake's VF is being converted to a ZB
“I can’t wait. It’s been a long time in the making, it’s been what I’ve wanted to do for a long time now,” he told Supercars.com.
“Since I was little, this is what we’ve done. It was just go-karts back then, but we’ve always had our own team and done our own thing.
“We’re not going to go in there and do anything crazy or be right up the front, but we’re going to aim to be somewhere in the pack,” he added.
“I believe I can race pretty hard with some of the people there, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Whether Jake attempts double duties at Bathurst in the main game and Super2 is yet to be decided.
“We’ll see how we go at Townsville and QR,” he said. “If I’m up there [in the standings], and I’m hoping I will be, I’ll push on with both.”
As a team, KBR has two previous main game wildcards to its name, running Jake’s brother Kurt at Queensland Raceway and The Bend last year.
Kurt is this year racing for Triple Eight in Super2 and understood to be chasing one of the remaining co-driving slots on the PIRTEK Enduro Cup grid.
He is, however, actively involved in the KBR wildcard effort as part of his duties with the family operation.
