Bathurst 1000: WA’s Brodie Kostecki wins famous race alongside Todd Hazelwood
The boy from Ballajura is now the boss of Bathurst.
WA’s Brodie Kostecki staked his claim as king of the mountain in Australia’s most famous motorsport race, partnering with Todd Hazelwood to hold his nerve across the final laps and claim the Bathurst 1000 crown.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Kostecki never relinquished the lead after starting the day in pole position, with the reigning Supercars champion leading his Erebus team to a memorable win at the revered NSW circuit.
It marks the 26-year-old’s maiden triumph at Mount Panorama and continues a stunning rise from WA go-kart tracks to the top of Australia’s motorsport industry.
“I just can’t believe it,” Kostecki told Seven after the win.
“I’m just in awe at the moment.”
Kostecki was uncatchable before a Matt Payne crash resulted in the race’s first and only safety car with 28 laps remaining.
But a year on from fumbling the grid’s top spot at Mount Panorama, Kostecki held his nerve on Sunday.
The West Aussie was unflustered down the stretch to hold off Triple Eight’s Broc Feeney and his co-driver, four-time Bathurst champion Jamie Whincup, by 1.35 seconds.
“Broc was breathing down my neck the whole time. It was just balls to the walls the whole time.
“It’s kind of funny around here. If you bring your pace back a little bit, you can actually get yourself into trouble.
“I just knew that if I just did shootout laps every single lap, I knew I wouldn’t make a mistake.
“It’s redemption from last year, for sure.”
Such was Feeney’s pace that the 21-year-old took the fastest lap of the race, with a time of two minutes 7.861 seconds.
“I drove my heart out out there. I didn’t leave anything on the table,” Feeney said.
“These guys next to me, Brodie and Todd, absolutely killed it today - they were faultless.
“We’ll be back one day. We’ll get up on the top step.”
It is a career-first Bathurst 1000 win from six attempts for Kostecki and from eight attempts for Hazelwood.
The win is also Kostecki’s first of the season after a messy off-season legal dispute with Erebus disrupted his title defence.
He missed the first two rounds this season as a result of the dispute.
Feeney’s Red Bull teammate and championship leader Will Brown finished third with co-driver Scott Pye.
BATHURST 1000 RESULTS
1. Brodie Kostecki/Todd Hazelwood (Erebus Motorsport)
2. Broc Feeney/Jamie Whincup (Triple Eight Race Engineering)
3. Will Brown/Scott Pye (Triple Eight)
4. Cam Waters/James Moffat (Tickford Racing)
5. Chaz Mostert/Lee Holdsworth (Walkinshaw Andretti United)
6. James Golding/David Russell (PremiAir Nulon Racing)
7. Anton De Pasquale/Tony D’Alberto (Dick Johnson Racing)
8. Jack Le Brocq/Jayden Ojeda (Erebus)
9. Richie Stanaway/Dale Wood (Grove Racing)
10. Cam Hill/Cam Crick (Matt Stone Racing)
