Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Brodie Kostecki has given himself a prime opportunity to claim a historic first Supercars race victory at the Darwin Triple Crown, claiming pole position in a frantic qualifying session.
In unusual overcast and cool conditions at Hidden Valley Raceway, Kostecki secured first position by a mere 0.025 seconds ahead of Friday evening’s 100km, 35-lap sprint race.
It comes after the Dick Johnson Racing driver had a horror practice run earlier in the day where he missed almost one third of the session because of a throttle body failure and radio issues.
Kostecki also went into the qualifying session battling an illness, but regardless, he shook off his woes to secure a fourth pole of the season, while Team 18’s Anton De Pasquale finished second, followed by Grove’s Matt Payne.
It was Supercars championship leader Broc Feeney who caused the biggest shock of the session though, after he failed to record a top-10 time in the first part of qualifying, meaning he didn’t have an opportunity to compete for pole in stage two.
It comes as the Triple Eight Race Engineering driver looks to claim a sixth consecutive win in Darwin, but Feeney faces a steep task in achieving that feat as he’ll start from 13th.
Last year’s champion Chaz Mostert also had a qualifying session to forget, finishing 11th.
Tickford Racing’s Cam Waters was fourth with rookie Jayden Ojeda, Kiwi Ryan Wood and young gun Kai Allen behind him.
David Reynolds, William Brown and Andre Heimgartner complete the top 10 for Race 17, which will get underway at 5pm (local time).
The Darwin Triple Crown is round six of the championship and is the fourth-to-last racing weekend before the Sprint Cup champion is crowned.
The winning driver of the Sprint Cup will also earn a finals berth.
Feeney swept all three races at Hidden Valley Raceway last year and he’ll look to replicate that to build on his 90-point championship lead, having claimed four wins this season.
RACE 17 QUALIFYING RESULTS:
1. Brodie Kostecki (Dick Johnson Racing)
2. Anton De Pasquale (Team 18)
3. Matt Payne (Grove Racing)
4. Cam Waters (Tickford Racing)
5. Jayden Ojeda (PremiAir Racing).
