Kostecki, Feeney take poles in Albert Park shake-up

THE scene is set for a pair of intriguing races to round out the Melbourne SuperSprint at Albert Park after a dramatic morning of Supercars qualifying.

Erebus Motorsport backed up its Friday victory with a maiden front-row lockout led by Brodie Kostecki for Race 3 of the weekend.

Broc Feeney then bounced back from the worst qualifying of his career in the earlier session this morning to take his first Repco Supercars Championship pole position, topping the second 15-minute hitout.

Feeney becomes the 69th different pole-sitter in ATCC/Supercars history.

Three-time champion Shane van Gisbergen meanwhile will start both races from outside the top 10.

Qualifying for Race 3 (hard tyres)

Damp conditions to start the session set the tone for a mixed-up grid as Dunlop’s new wet tyre debuted in a competitive setting.

The first flying laps ultimately proved critical, with almost no improvements made on the second wet tyre lap before the entire field pitted for slicks.

That was good news for Erebus Motorsport, whose drivers were straight on the pace as Brodie Kostecki went fastest on a 2:00.0824s, with Will Brown second.

It was unclear whether a switch to the hard tyre would have helped times tumble, with David Reynolds beaching his #26 Mustang at Turn 14 to trigger a session-ending red flag.

Thus the order remained as is, with Kostecki’s 0.8063s gap to Brown the biggest pole margin since the 2015 Bathurst 1000.

“I knew that the new soft wet was quite fast and I was only going to get one lap out of it, so we made sure it was pressured to get it right for that first lap and just sent it,” said Kostecki, who took his maiden race win yesterday.

“I had a pretty good benchmark in front of me as well, Will (Brown) ended up P2.”

Bryce Fullwood and Matt Payne starred to secure third and fifth on the grid for this evening’s race, separated by Anton De Pasquale.

Those who did not maximise their first lap on wets were punished, with Shane van Gisbergen to start 11th, Cam Waters 20th and Broc Feeney 21st.

Reynolds lost his fastest time for causing the red flag, relegating him to 24th, only ahead of Nick Percat.

Percat ventured out on track but did not record a time as issues lingered following the rebuild of his #2 Mobil 1 NTI Mustang which caught fire yesterday.

Race 3 starts at 5:25pm AEDT today.

Qualifying for Race 4 (super soft tyres)

With all cars now on slick super soft tyres, times improved with each lap as Brodie Kostecki and Cam Waters in particular duked it out.

Kostecki set the initial benchmark at a 1:53.8681s, before Chaz Mostert went to the top on a 1:51.2911s.

The best of the third laps belonged to Kostecki on a 1:49.4153s to put him just clear of Waters before the Tickford Racing driver turned the tables the next time around.

Entering the final flying laps, it was Waters (1:48.8381s) from Kostecki, Will Davison and Mark Winterbottom.

But the lead duo perhaps mistimed their run, with a mid-session tyre change helping Broc Feeney launch up to first on a 1:47.7685s.

That time was unbeaten despite a late flurry of improvements, with Mostert ending up his nearest rival.

“The highs and lows, 22nd and then first,” Feeney said.

“I was pretty fired up in between the sessions, but it’s about time, I’ve been so close so many times but credit to the team, timing was perfect out there.

“I nearly stuck it in the fence on that last lap then, crazy conditions.”

Shane van Gisbergen slid to 12th, although that was still better in the end than Kostecki (14th) and Waters (15th).

David Reynolds’ nightmare continued, suffering steering damage following contact with Will Brown at Turn 13.

The fourth and final race of the weekend is scheduled to start at 10:20am tomorrow.

RESULTS: Qualifying for Race 3, Albert Park

RESULTS: Qualifying for Race 4, Albert Park