Supercars champion Kostecki gets 'monkey off the back'
Starting on pole in Townsville, Kostecki converted his qualifying dominance in the 35-lap sprint race to win for Shell V-Power Racing.
It was the 20th race of the season, the first time Supercars have raced on a Friday at the northern Queensland circuit.
Kostecki's victory ended a five-race run by championship leader Broc Feeney, who drove superbly during the recent rounds in Perth and Darwin.
The 27-year-old held off Ford rival Cam Waters and former Shell V-Power driver Anton De Pasquale.
"That felt awesome," Kostecki said.
"The Shell V-Power Mustang was on fire.
"I had Cam breathing down my neck the whole race so I knew you I couldn't make a mistake.
"An awesome feeling to get the monkey off the back, it's just absolutely unreal. I've been pretty fortunate to win some pretty cool races, but this feels real special.
"There's relief for the whole team. We've been putting in a lot of effort, everyone works really hard up and down the pit lane."
By winning, Kostecki may have just created a new superstition.
"We had a team lunch on Monday, and I joked and said 'if this works, we're going to do this every round.
"So we're going to get the spatula out, we're going to be cooking Wagyu burgers every Monday."
Defending champion Will Brown had a horrendous qualifying session, starting the race 20th.
But he managed to make up 10 spots in the race in an important stint for his season.
Feeney finished eighth.
A 70-lap race will take place in Townsville on Saturday and Sunday.
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