Brodie Kostecki has put himself in the best position to clinch the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship with Race 27 pole at the VAILO Adelaide 500.
The Erebus Motorsport driver beat David Reynolds (#26 Penrite Mustang) and Thomas Randle (#55 Castrol Mustang) to secure pole in an enthralling ARMOR ALL Top Ten Shootout.
Title rival Shane van Gisbergen (#97 Red Bull Ampol Camaro) was sixth, and should Kostecki and van Gisbergen finish where they start, the #99 Coca-Cola Camaro driver will clinch the 2023 crown.
Kostecki’s 1:19.8283s was only 0.0090s quicker than Reynolds, with Randle a scant 0.0008s behind the Penrite Ford. All told, the top three were covered by 0.0098s.
“Pretty stoked to come away there with pole,” said Kostecki, who claimed his first and Erebus’ first Adelaide pole position.
“It’s a big thank you to everyone at Coca-Cola Racing by Erebus, it’s been a great weekend so far.
“The car was pretty fast in race trim, I was quite happy with it in practice. We’re starting from pole, we can’t put ourselves in a better scenario than that.”
James Golding (#31 Nulon Camaro) pieced together a conservative 1:20.5730s to open proceedings, with Cam Waters (#43 Monster Energy Mustang) locking-up at the final corner en route to a 1:20.3271s.
Chaz Mostert (#25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang) attacked early and banked a 1:20.2141s, with Practice 3 fast man Will Brown next. The #9 Coca-Cola Camaro driver went quickest in the first two sectors and put 0.1500s on Mostert with a 1:20.0641s.
Anton De Pasquale (#11 Shell V-Power Mustang) went quickest in the first sector and was 0.075s down to the second sector, but recovered in the final sector to put 0.1402s on Brown with a 1:19.9239s.
Randle, who was unable to take part in the corresponding session last year due to a practice crash, went even quicker with a 1:19.8381s, having paced the first and third sectors.
Van Gisbergen, an eight-time pole winner in Adelaide, managed a 1:20.1034s and slotted in behind Randle, De Pasquale and Brown, with only Matt Payne (#19 Penrite Mustang), Reynolds and Kostecki to come.
Payne went quickest to the first sector, and was up to the second, only to bowl a wide at the Turn 9 hairpin and record a 1:21.3822s.
Reynolds pieced together a clean lap to put just 0.0008s on Randle, leaving Kostecki a 1:19.8373s to chase a ninth pole position of the season.
Kostecki was marginally down to the second sector, but fought back in the final corners to put 0.0090s on Reynolds.
The first 250km race of the VAILO Adelaide 500, Race 27, will commence at 2:50pm local time/3:20pm AEDT.