Heroic Kostecki recounts 'horrible' Bathurst illness ordeal

Brodie Kostecki has shed light on his illness battle in Bathurst, with the reigning champion peeling himself off his bed to put together a Great Race masterpiece.

Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood combined to lead 157 of 161 laps last Sunday, with the Erebus Motorsport Camaro dominating from pole position.

The drama began on the Friday, when an ailing Kostecki secured passage into the Top Ten Shootout despite clipping the wall across the top of the Mountain. Through it all, Kostecki only missed out on provisional pole by 0.0194s on a day he watched the day's first practice session from his bed.

Come Saturday, and Kostecki hauled himself to a stunning pole position, which ultimately paved the way to his dominant win in a largely green race on Sunday.

After the Shootout, Kostecki said a vibration led to double vision, although at the time, few knew of his illness woes.

Speaking on Supercars' Drivers Only podcast, Kostecki said: "Well, I had the shits with myself, but I literally had the shits that day.

“Physically, I was feeling horrible to the point where I was on the shred. It was not good. I wasn't feeling good on Friday.

"I was glad to actually just put it in the Shootout, to be honest.”

Such were Kostecki's issues, that Hazelwood was wary about sharing the car in the race, joking: “We did joke on Saturday, like, we're going to have to put a garbage bag in the seat.

"Like, I don't want to be sitting in that.”

It wasn't the first time Kostecki has had to put ill health aside to perform at a high level. Last year, he had to wait until the end of the season to address ongoing tonsilitis. He wasn't the only one struggling, with Super2 rookie Max Vidau spending more time in the medical centre than his race car.

As the bug moved on, Kostecki's fitness was truly tested in a record-breaking race he and Hazelwood set the pace.

Standing between Kostecki and the Peter Brock Trophy was a 27-lap sprint to the end after a late Safety Car, and he duly stood up to Broc Feeney's pressure to deliver a stunning victory.

“Those last 30 laps there were gruelling, they were so intense,” Kostecki said.

"It was within a second for a lot of, you know, for over 50 percent of that last stint. And I've got a display on my dash that shows me how far Broc was behind me.

"I'd be going down the hill every lap, pretty much hanging my balls out on the line ready to write this Chiko roll off and roll through the sand.

"I'd get to Forrest’s Elbow and I'm like, ‘Surely I've put I've put a gap on this little prick behind me’, and it'd come out exactly the same.

"And I'd be like, ‘F**k, how much more have I got to do to have a safe buffer, if I would were to make a small mistake, that he wouldn't be able to attack me’.”

Even then, it wasn't over until it was over, the fuel light coming on in the Chiko Camaro as Kostecki greeted the chequered flag. All told, it was the sweetest redemption after a botched 2023 race, and difficult start to the year.

“Once we got across the chequered flag, it took a while for it to actually to all sink in because of the adrenaline was so high, and pushing for so long,” Kostecki said.

"And once I got back to the podium… Todd come in and he was just screaming, ‘We've just won f**king Bathurst’.

“That's when it started to realise I'm like, ‘We've just won Bathurst’."

The 2024 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 on October 25-27. Tickets for the event are on sale now.

Live coverage can be found on Foxtel, with live streaming available on Kayo. The Seven Network will take free to air coverage. International viewers can follow all the action on Superview.