A thrilling fight between Shane van Gisbergen and Brodie Kostecki has concluded a frantic opening 42-lap encounter at CARCO.com.au Raceway in Perth.
In an exciting final three laps, Kostecki driving the Coca-Cola Racing by Erebus Camaro held the lead and was defending the Red Bull Ampol Racing Chevrolet of van Gisbergen, with contact being made numerous times.
Blocking aggressively, Kostecki received a black flag as van Gisbergen finally made his way through exiting Turn 6 on the penultimate lap adding a crucial victory to his title defence, which has so far not been a smooth sailing as it previous seasons.
Penrite Racing’s David Reynolds was third in the lead Ford Mustang, but was right behind the lead battle for the final two laps as Blanchard Racing Team’s Todd Hazelwood charged from outside the top 10 to fourth in a solid drive.
Veteran James Courtney demoted Penrite Racing’s rising star Matt Payne to finish fifth for Snowy River Racing as Tim Slade tried in vain to demote the rookie another position on the line in his Nulon Racing Chevrolet Camaro.
Will Davison led the Shell V-Power Racing Team efforts in eighth from Thomas Randle in the Castrol Racing Ford Mustang and the second Red Bull Ampol Racing Camaro of Broc Feeney.
Those to miss the top 10 included Chaz Mostert in 11th, Anton De Pasquale, who qualified 18th climbed to 13th, Will Brown was 16th after starting 22nd, Nick Percat in 17th and Andre Heimgartner was another failing to make ground after colliding with Cameron Waters in an awkward pit entry to both finish outside the first 20.
It’s a busy day for the Repco Supercars Championship drivers tomorrow with two qualifying sessions and races in Perth at 9:15am AWST or 11:15am AEST.