THERE has been plenty of praise for Brodie Kostecki in 2023 but perhaps none more than this.
George Commins, Kostecki’s veteran race engineer, has revealed just how highly he rates the 25-year-old.
Commins was a leading engineer in the European open-wheeler scene for years, including with the Williams Formula 1 team as well as Arden and Double R in feeder series.
Along the way, he worked with the likes of Carlos Sainz Jr, Pierre Gasly, Valtteri Bottas, Rubens Barrichello, Marcus Ericsson and many more – and Kostecki, he says, has them all covered.
“In terms of a complete package, he takes the cake,” Commins told V8 Sleuth.
Commins also has extensive experience in Supercars, working at Larkham Motorsport and Dick Johnson Racing before his European tenure, and afterwards guiding Rick Kelly before joining Erebus Motorsport and Kostecki in 2021.
“Brodie is the most demanding driver I’ve ever worked with in terms of how intense he is about his racing,” said Commins, who travelled to the States to assist with Kostecki’s NASCAR Cup Series debut last month.
“He’ll ring me every single day to talk about the cars, talk about set-ups, anything to do with racing and that pushes me to go to another level.
“I think we both have a lot of respect for each other.
“He’s the best driver I have ever worked with, in terms of his ability, his engineering understanding and his ability to go and execute consistently like we saw (at The Bend).
“And likewise, he has a lot of time and respect for what I can do for him in terms of knowledge. We have a good working relationship.”
Like many, Commins believed Erebus and Kostecki would make gains in 2023 – but maybe not quite to the degree where they’ve rocketed from sixth in last year’s teams’ championship to suddenly be dominating.
“I mean, I knew we would do well this year – probably not quite this well, but for sure I knew that we would rise to the occasion when everyone has got all of the same components and it really comes down to the team’s preparation, driver and engineering,” he said.
“We’re strong in all of those areas, so we were expecting to make a big step.”
Kostecki holds a 137-point title lead entering the Sandown 500, where he’ll again have David Russell as his co-driver.
