Kostecki puts rivals on notice in Bathurst, damage for Murray

Brodie Kostecki has put his rivals on notice ahead of Boost Mobile Qualifying, with the reigning champion pacing Practice 4 at the Repco Bathurst 1000.

The 2023 Bathurst pole winner put 0.16s on closest rival Cam Waters after 60 minutes of practice, with Broc Feeney and Richie Stanaway the only other drivers within 0.4s of Kostecki.

Fifth at the death was Jaxon Evans, who powered his #50 SCT Logistics Chevrolet ahead of 2017 Bathurst winner David Reynolds, James Golding and championship leader Will Brown.

Unlike the morning session, which featured three red flags, Practice 4 ran green for its entirety. However, it ended in drama for Cooper Murray, who clipped the concrete at The Dipper in the closing minutes.

Brown opened proceedings with a 2:08.2573s, before Kostecki gapped the field with a 2:07.1186s. Waters locked up at Forrest's Elbow, but still managed to jump to second with a 2:07.7532, albeit 0.6346s behind Kostecki.

Kostecki's time held firm for the balance of the session, with Waters appearing the reigning champion's closest competition. It wasn't without trying, Waters going fastest to the second sector, but again locked up and surfed through the grass at The Chase before returning to pit lane.

Anton De Pasquale moved to second with a 2:07.2435s, before being shuffled down by Jack Le Brocq, who briefly made it an Erebus one-two with his 2:07.1697.

Golding then went fastest to the second sector at the 33-minute mark, and dropped in the first 2:06s lap of the session, a 2:06.8684s, to go fastest.

All the while, frantic repairs led to Matt Stone Racing returning the Nick Percat car onto the track at the 21-minute mark, with Cameron Hill also joining the session shortly afterwards.

De Pasquale came within 0.09s of Golding's time with a 2:06.9543s, with Chaz Mostert moving from 18th to fourth with a 2:07.1434s.

Feeney pushed to make up time, bowling a wide at The Chase before responding with dual 2:06.5s laps to go quickest of all. Reynolds then went third with a 2:06.7856s, and Brown sixth with a 2:06.8692s before straight-lining the Skyline run-off.

Waters set after top spot, and powered to P1 with a 2:06.3456s with nine minutes remaining. However, Kostecki loomed to go even faster, and recorded a 2:06.1820s to put 0.1636s on Waters' time.

The tension rose into the final minutes, with Reynolds brushing the wall on the run to Reid Park, before Triple Eight wildcard Murray clipped the wall at The Cutting after sliding straight on at Skyline.

De Pasquale and Le Brocq rounded out the top 10, with Mostert 12th between Andre Heimgartner and Will Davison.

Davison handed teenage co-driver Kai Allen laps at the start of the session, with the Super2 champion nursing a sore shoulder following his crash in Dunlop Series qualifying.

All 26 Supercars will return to the track for Boost Mobile Qualifying at 4:15pm AEDT, which will set the running order for Saturday's Top Ten Shootout.

Tickets for the Repco Bathurst 1000 are on sale now.