Supercars Championship: Melbourne SuperSprint Race 7 Report
- Tayla Purves
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
Credit: Shell V Power Racing | Instagram
Pole sitter, Will Brown, has had quite the weekend; his aggression becoming admired across the category's fanbase and commentary.
Brown set the pace at a speedy 1:46.019 for the last race of the weekend, Thomas Randle eagerly waiting behind with hopes to win his very first Supercars victory.
On the row behind, Aaron Cameron and Brodie Kostecki - two weekend front contenders - add immense pressure to the two quickest of the field.
Sunday at the Australian Grand Prix makes Brad Jones Racing's 800th race in the Supercars Championship, a huge milestone for the team.
As it happened
As soon as those green flags waved for the start of Race 7, Brown got away cleanly. It wasn't the same story further down the back, with Ryan Wood and Kai Allen having a brief rough tug of contact.
Allen continued to be caught up in drama, a small biff with the No.96 Toyota Supra, while the No.6 Monster Mustang of Cam Waters had a small kiss of contact with the rear of Wood curating the horror events of a Red Bull Ampol Racing Mustang sitting sideways before spinning into oncoming traffic.
Broc Feeney had a massive shunt, Allen's wobble impacting Cooper Murray, the messy events effectively ending the current championship leader's race. An innocent bystander amongst it all is rookie Zach Bates, others in the field copping damage as well, with the scenes of absolute carnage on the opening lap.
A safety car made its way out as the cleanup was commenced by track marshals, heartbreaking replays of the dramatic opening lap scenes on screen.
The roar of the field came alive on lap 4, Randle and Cameron hot on Brown's tail for a very short 14 lap race, both eager to win their maiden victory.
Lap 6, Cameron left the door wide open to a fast Kostecki, leaving the Western Australian's No.17 Mustang to chase down the front leaders.
Kostecki with a super decisive move on Randle, took himself into second place, free to chase down Brown.
Behind the leaders, Matt Payne in the No.19 Mustang slipped past Randle, only to lock up and be sent straight down the field - limping his way to pit lane.
Cameron slipped his way into the lane, a brief moment of contact with Chaz Mostert behind, each briefly on the grass. Tyre debris from Payne's Mustang were clear on track, giving the field another bit of chaos to focus on.
Lap 10, Turn 4 had a hefty slide from two rookies coming together; Jackson Walls and Jobe Stewart able to get going again, losing a few spots as they went.
Kostecki continued to chase down Brown with only three laps to go and only a gap of +0.299 between the pair, the battle only just beginning.
The time certain means the field missed out on an additional lap, but at Turn 11, Kostecki made the perfect move, crossing under Brown with some beautiful deep and late breaking to get the move done, becoming the race leader.
Kostecki crossed the line in first, confidently leading the championship going into round three, with an added bonus of winning the prestigious Larry Perkins trophy.
The Repco Supercars Championship head to New Zealand next for the ITM Taupo Super 440.
The Results
Brodie Kostecki 1:48.537
Will Brown +1.756
Thomas Randle +3.495
Jack Le Brocq +3.933
James Golding +4.090
Cam Waters +5.423
Jayden Ojeda +5.679
Chaz Mostert +6.721
Kai Allen +8.053
Macauley Jones +9.850
Declan Fraser +10.975
Anton De Pasquale +11.626
Cameron Hill + 12.210
Rylan Gray +16.507
Andre Heimgartner +16.588
Jackson Walls +17.144
David Reynolds +19.675
Jobe Stewart +20.216
Aaron Cameron +72.032
Matthew Payne +78.032
Ryan Wood + 1 Lap
Broc Feeney DNF
Cooper Murray DNF
Zach Bates DNF
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