Supercars Adelaide Grand Final: Kostecki nabs the lead from Mostert before race ends to red flag

Written by Jasmin Low

The roar of V8 engines tore through the streets of Adelaide with a newly introduced 62 mile (100 kilometer) Friday race getting underway. With 50 points and $50,000 in prize money on offer for the winner, the race would prove to be an integral step toward closing the points-gap between the top four. Brodie Kostecki’s lunge on Chaz Mostert during the opening stage of the race saw him take home the win after the skies opened above. 

With rain soaking the track, a red flag turned into an early ending to the session | Image: Jasmin Low

As it Happened

As the five red lights went out, Broc Feeney and Chaz Mostert found themselves immediately side-by-side, scrapping for the race lead whilst sliding around on the drenched track surface. With one hand on the race lead, Mostert attempted to make his way past Feeney but lost out to his title competitor at the next corner. 

Feeney’s teammate Will Brown suffered a spin as the field rounded the final corner and began the second lap, dropping the championship contender to the rear of the field. 

A wide-running moment for Feeney through Turn 4 saw Kostecki and Mostert make their way past the leader, before Kostecki blasted his way past Mostert’s Mustang to take the race lead. 

Cam Waters continued to fall down the order, ceding places to Ryan Wood and Cooper Murray. Lap 4 continued to bring the drama as David Reynolds found himself slipping off the track at Turn 4. Momentarily after, Murray was sent into a spin after making contact with Waters, sending the Erebus driver into the wall. 

Thomas Randle was slapped with a 15-second time penalty as the cars entered into their seventh tour of the revered street circuit. Meanwhile, Kostecki stretched out a 1.8 second margin to his closest rival. 

The penalties kept rolling in for Tickford Racing as Waters was also dealt a 15-second time penalty for his collision with Murray. 

Will Davison was the big mover throughout the first half of the race, having made up 15 places after starting from last place, breaking into the top 10. 

Ryan Wood made his way past Feeney with 23 laps left on the count, making it a 2-3 on the road for Walkinshaw Andretti United. 

Kostecki continued to smash out rapid lap times as the track began to dry, punching in a fastest lap time of 1:29.007 with 20 laps remaining. With 8 drivers having made their way into the pit lane, the gap between those who had boxed and the frontrunners was approaching 40-seconds. 

As the final 20 laps got underway, Brown was making the most of the Triple Eight car’s strong pace, finding himself in 12th with 16 laps of racing to go. A spin for Randle allowed Brown to close in on the Tickford car as the heavens opened above the track. 

With 12 laps remaining, Randle aquaplaned into the wall at Turn 8, beaching the car on the track and forcing the safety car to be called out. With the frontrunners having made their pit stops under the safety car, the red flag was flown as the rain intensified. 

With the barriers at the infamous Turn 8 heavily displaced, race control decided that the session would not be resumed. 

Kostecki would take home 50 points and $50,000 in winnings, with runner-up Mostert making an impression on the championship standings after finishing in second. Wood completed the podium, marking a successful Friday for WAU. 

As for the other three title contenders, Feeney’s fourth-place finish was enough to retain the championship lead by 13 points. Allen finished directly behind in fifth whilst Brown managed to climb from 25th to 9th. 

As it stands, 53 points cover the four drivers still in contention for the 2025 Supercars title, with the championship order unchanged at the top end. Feeney leads the charge with a total of 5089, followed by Mostert with 5076 points. Brown sits 48 points behind his teammate in third whilst Allen has closed in on his rival, now only five points behind Brown.