They may have changed teams and brands, but reigning Bathurst champions Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood proved they were still class of the enduro field with a brilliant victory in the AirTouch 500 at The Bend.
The #38 Shell V-Power Mustang was peerless after Hazelwood took the lead from Jamie Whincup on lap 15, with Kostecki outlasting Ford rival Cam Waters in a breathless final run to the flag.
The win was Ford’s first in a Supercars endurance race since the 2019 Bathurst 1000 which, coincidentally, was also won by a Shell V-Power Mustang. It was also Kostecki’s fourth straight win at The Bend, following his sprint sweep in 2023.
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Waters/Mark Winterbottom and Matt Payne/Garth Tander completed an all-Ford podium, but the biggest headaches belonged to Whincup and Broc Feeney, who came home a distant 18th in a race plagued by mistakes and a costly fuel delivery issue.
Heading to the Repco Bathurst 1000, Feeney leads Payne by a reduced 158 points, with reigning champion Will Brown 188 behind. Waters remains fourth, but clinched his Repco Supercars Finals Series berth, as did Chaz Mostert and Kostecki.
“I wasn’t nervous, just the car was a little nervous on entry to the corners,” said Kostecki, who claimed career win No.10.
“You can’t be nervous when you drive for such a great team like Shell V-Power Racing, and I get to share the car with a bloke like this who did an awesome job, gave us a good margin to settle into the race.
“The stint before last the car was a little bit too edgy for me, so we tuned it up and were able to just manage the gap to Cam and bring it home. Super stoked for everyone at Shell V-Power Racing.”
Brown/Scott Pye recovered from 16th to be first Camaro home in fourth, with Matt Stone Racing veterans Nick Percat and Tim Slade vaulting from 11th to fifth. Mostert/Fabian Coulthard were erstwhile leaders, but finished eighth after being put onto a four-stop strategy.
Ryan Wood/Jayden Ojeda finished sixth ahead of the brilliant Cooper Murray/Jobe Stewart, who combined to finish seventh despite completing an alternate strategy. Mostert/Coulthard, Thomas Randle/James Moffat and Anton De Pasquale/Harri Jones completed the top 10.
The race began with pole-sitter Whincup leading the field through Turn 1, with Hazelwood picking off James Moffat and MSR rising star Cameron McLeod before hunting down and passing Whincup for the lead by lap 15.
From there, the #38 Shell V-Power Ford opened up a margin through the stops, with Whincup running off twice following the fateful first stop. Mostert led Kostecki at the halfway mark, but was set on a four-stop strategy.
Mostert was brought in on lap 61, handing the lead back to Kostecki, who had 1.8s in hand over Waters. Behind them, Payne was 7.8s from the lead, with Percat, Wood and Brown in close proximity.
On lap 72, Randle stopped from seventh, with De Pasquale following suit. Wood followed Brown in on the following lap. All the while, Waters slashed Kostecki’s lead to 0.5s, before Tickford pulled the trigger on lap 74. Payne, Percat, Stewart and Reynolds also stopped.
DJR wasted no time, bringing Kostecki in on the next lap. On used tyres, Waters hounded the undercut, as Kostecki was fitted with two new tyres. The #38 was released two seconds clear of the #6, as Mostert again took the lead. The margin was down to 0.6s after the second standing lap, setting up a 25-lap run to the flag.
Waters haunted the rear of the #38 Shell V-Power Mustang, with the duo dropping Payne. Turn 6 loomed as Waters’s strongest area, with the #6 Monster Ford almost taking paint from Kostecki’s car. All the while, Mostert was brought in for his fourth and final stop, and emerged 15th.
Try as he might, Waters was unable to dislodge Kostecki, who eked out a 1.3s lead by lap 85, and won by the official margin of 3.018s.
On lap 87, Feeney came in for his final stop, and returned to the race in a lowly 23rd and in combat with Blanchard Racing Team rookie Aaron Cameron. Feeney fought back to 19th, his worst result of the season, and first non top 10 result since New Zealand in April.
The 2025 Repco Supercars Championship resumes at the Repco Bathurst 1000 on October 9-12. Tickets for the Great Race are on sale now.
This article was originally published at Supercars.com and republished with permission.
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