THE Shell V-Power Racing Team ended a treacherous opening race at the Gold Coast 500 with two straight Ford Mustangs and a consolidated Finals position for Brodie Kostecki.
Seventh place for the newly-minted two-time Repco Bathurst 1000 winner keeps him in a good position in the Repco Supercars Finals standings before the first elimination occurs following Sunday’s race, while Rylan Gray brought home 17th in his very first race of any kind on the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit.
The heavens opened prior to Race 31 and caused the 85-lap race to start behind the Safety Car; racing proper began after three laps. While a drying line began to form during the 250km race, conditions never improved enough for drivers to switch away from wet tyres.
Brodie, starting from 11th, charged forward in the early laps to be fourth by lap 27 - with all positions gained on the track. He briefly led amid the pitstop cycle but wound up seventh by the time the stops wrapped up, having initially struggled for speed on the second set of tyres. A slide wide at Turn 11 on lap 52 meant he was eighth by the time of his final stop on lap 58.
Returning in an effective ninth place, Car 17 was one of the fastest on track in the closing stint. Brodie ran down and passed Cam Waters, then picked up another spot when James Golding spun at the beach chicane - he was fortunate to avoid the #7 Mustang too, as it parked broadsides across the road.
Brodie then set a string of personal fastest laps to close from some five seconds behind Will Brown to be on his rear bumper in the final laps, taking the chequered flag in seventh place.
Rylan enjoyed a quietly impressive drive amid challenging conditions for his very first race on the Surfers Paradise streets. He kept out of trouble in the early stages and, courtesy of a long first stint, emerged from his first pitstop in 13th place. Two more solid stints saw him take the chequered flag in 17th place.
Brodie remains in the thick of Finals contention; although he slipped to fifth place in the standings, he gained on key rival Broc Feeney and sits just 90 points off the lead. More importantly, he sits 99 points clear of eighth place in the standings; the drivers that are eighth, ninth and 10th in points will be eliminated from Finals contention after tomorrow. Rylan retains 19th in points.
The Shell V-Power Mustangs next hit the track at 12:20pm AEDT/11:20am local time on Sunday for a three-part qualifying session including a Top 10 Shootout that will set the grid for Race 32 later that afternoon.
