Brodie Kostecki has won a dramatic Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight race under lights, with rivals Cam Waters and Shane van Gisbergen penalised.
With victory in Race 18, the Erebus Motorsport driver snatched back the points lead he lost in Townsville — his first since Albert Park in April, and the third of his career.
Watch every Practice, Qualifying & Race of the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship Live & Ad-Break Free During Racing on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
Chaz Mostert emerged second after a thrilling battle ahead of Kostecki’s teammate Will Brown, who was elevated to third after a time penalty for van Gisbergen.
Van Gisbergen was pinged over a last-lap incident with Brown at Turn 8, with the two Camaros making nose-to-rear contact.
Earlier, Waters was penalised over an unsafe release, having been sent into the path of van Gisbergen’s teammate Broc Feeney during his second stop.
Waters and van Gisbergen were reclassified to fifth and seventh, with Jack Le Brocq and Tim Slade jumping to fourth and sixth.
Andre Heimgartner lost his pole advantage immediately, bogging down off the line and falling behind Kostecki, Brown and Waters through Turn 1.
Heimgartner was down to fifth by the end of lap 1 — and down to ninth by lap 13 — with a fast-starting Cameron Hill jumping from eighth to fourth.
Kostecki held Brown at bay as Waters held third, with Le Brocq overhauling teammate Hill for fourth. It set up a big battle behind, with James Golding, Mostert, Heimgartner, Will Davison and Bryce Fullwood all squabbling.
Anton De Pasquale, who qualified 23rd, was first to stop on lap 10, with Scott Pye pitting two laps later.
Kostecki weathered a Brown challenge to open up a 1.3s margin by lap 13, which blew out to four seconds by the time Brown and Waters stopped on lap 17.
Waters jumped Brown in the lane, with Le Brocq and van Gisbergen following them in. Kostecki stopped on lap 19, and emerged 1.6s ahead of the Monster Ford.
Having lost ground in the opening stint, Heimgartner was shifted to a one-stop strategy, along with Davison and David Reynolds. Davison stopped on lap 22, Reynolds on lap 24, and Heimgartner lap 25.
With stops complete by halfway, Kostecki led Waters by 2.5s, with Brown, Le Brocq, Pye, Mostert, Courtney, Golding, van Gisbergen and Hill rounding out the top 10.
Pye, James Courtney and Thomas Randle kicked off the second round of stops on lap 30, with Le Brocq stopping on lap 32.
The race quickly turned on its head on the next lap when Reynolds crashed, triggering the bp Ultimate Safety Car on lap 35.
Waters was one of several drivers to stop in anticipation of a Safety Car. However, The #6 Ford was released into the path of Feeney, with Race Control confirming a penalty on lap 40 — much to Waters’ dismay.
Kostecki led Waters, Brown, Le Brocq, Mostert, Pye, van Gisbergen, Courtney, Hill and Slade to green on lap 39.
Mostert picked off Le Brocq for fourth immediately at Turn 4, with van Gisbergen motoring past Pye for sixth.
Kostecki opened up a one-second lead over Waters, who was under increased pressure from Brown. It invited Mostert and van Gisbergen to the party, with a four-way battle exploding on lap 49.
Brown made a lunge but was unable to complete a move as the quartet arrived at Turn 4. Mostert passed both, with van Gisbergen watching on behind.
Mostert emerged in second, with Waters, Brown and van Gisbergen slotting in behind. On the final lap, van Gisbergen hit Brown at the hairpin and completed the pass into Turn 9.
It did little to deter Kostecki, who crossed the line over seven seconds ahead of Mostert.
Supercars return to the track for qualifying on Sunday at 12:30pm local time/AEST.
Watch every Practice, Qualifying & Race of the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship Live & Ad-Break Free During Racing on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
This story originally appeared on Supercars.com and is reproduced with permission.