Kostecki smokes field ahead of Bathurst qualifying

BRODIE Kostecki has fired an ominous warning shot to his rivals with a dominant performance in Practice 4 at the Repco Bathurst 1000.

The #99 Coca-Cola Camaro completed the least laps of any car in the 28-strong field but still put more than six tenths on nearest rival Scott Pye.

Kostecki had already led for the entire second half of the final pre-qualifying practice but didn’t fully show his hand until after the chequered flag had flown, lobbing a 2:05.1215s.

At the start, 27 cars headed straight out on track, with Kostecki the only exception.

Pye was the initial pacesetter on a 2:06.6486s; that benchmark was bettered by Shane van Gisbergen and then David Reynolds the next time around.

Thomas Randle and Will Brown soon spent time at the top, the latter getting down to a 2:06.0104s, before Kostecki finally set his first representative lap time at the 25-minute mark.

Immediately Kostecki banged in a 2:05.6178s, as Erebus Motorsport continues to look like top contenders for provisional pole this afternoon.

Kostecki though noted a high degree of track evolution, adding to the air of anticipation in the wait for full qualifying simulations at the end of the session.

Heading into the final five minutes, the top five order read: Kostecki, Broc Feeney, Brown, James Golding and Cam Waters.

By the end of session, Kostecki had 0.6311s on Pye, with Chaz Mostert, Waters and Practice 3 pacesetter Matt Payne rounding out the top five.

“It’s hard not to be happy with P2, but I reckon that’s one of the worst sessions you do all year,” said Pye.

“It leads into the best one, but that one, you’re pushing, but you know you can’t make a mistake because qualifying is next.

“It’s the most important qualifying of the year, really, because it’s so hard to win from down the back at this race.

“I want to make the Shootout. We hung it out there, there was a little bit left, but it’s going to be close.”

Van Gisbergen threatened to mix it with top few but mucked up both of his final flyers with errors at the Elbow and Murray’s Corner in successive laps.

There were a few minor moments during the 60-minute hitout, with Aaron Love scraping the wall and Andre Heimgartner, Macauley Jones and David Russell taking to escape roads.

Primary drivers spent the bulk of time in their respective cars, with another dedicated co-driver session still to come tomorrow morning.

Before then is qualifying, which will run for 40 minutes starting 4:15pm AEDT.

RESULTS: Supercars Practice 4, Repco Bathurst 1000