Kostecki poses MotoGP-style chicane shortcut penalty

A MotoGP-style long lap penalty could be a left-field option to deter drivers shortcutting chicanes at the Gold Coast, says Brodie Kostecki.

The Surfers Paradise Street Circuit features two major chicanes — the Turns 1/2/3 complex and Turns 6/7/8/9/10 along the back straight.

Kostecki missed out on victory in the Sunday race 12 months ago after David Reynolds infamously cut through the first chicane in the closing laps.

Reynolds hadn’t been issued a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits, and ploughed through the chicane to deny Kostecki.

Erebus Motorsport did not request a review of the incident, with CEO Barry Ryan later saying “this track lends itself to having a bit of a lend of the rules if you want to.”

Reynolds ultimately got away with it and won the race, with the 2023 event going without the controversial tyre bundles at the chicanes.

Kostecki suggested that, while kerbs are often self-policing, there needs to be further deterrent at the first chicane.

The reigning champion and Bathurst winner said MotoGP’s long lap penalty system, which was most recently used at Phillip Island last weekend.

In MotoGP, every circuit has a defined route around a corner, some seconds slower than the normal racing line, where penalised riders must ride through the defined area within three laps of being notified.

The penalty is equivalent to several seconds, leading to loss of position.

“If you cut it obviously a little bit and you get a kerb strike, obviously it’s a kerb strike,” Kostecki said on Supercars’ Drivers Only podcast.

“But if you cut it completely like [Reynolds] does, you have to come up with some sort of, what you have to do... “They do it in MotoGP as well with the long lap penalty, I think we’re probably due for something like that at a track like that.

“We did actually speak to Bairdo [Craig Baird, Driving Standards Advisor] about it at the last round, but they have to go through the mitigating factors and safety.

Drivers’ laps are deleted in practice and qualifying laps if they activate the timing loops, with drivers notified immediately if they have breached track limits.

Under the previous system, teams were first notified of kerb strikes, with information then communicated to drivers.

The kerb strike information is monitored during the races to allow Race Control to enact a kerb strike policy. There is a kerb sensor at Turn 2, and four sensors at the beach chicane, from Turns 7 to 10.

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.