Kostecki claims Bathurst redemption after 2023 defeat

On this day 12 months ago, Brodie Kostecki wondered what could have been after being comprehensively beaten to Bathurst victory by Shane van Gisbergen and Triple Eight.

Today, Kostecki turned the tides in crushing fashion, beating both Triple Eight cars to secure his maiden Great Race victory, a first for Todd Hazelwood, and second for Erebus Motorsport.

Such a result would have seemed unthinkable nearly eight months ago, when Kostecki wasn't on the grid at all for the first round of the season at the same circuit.

Round by round, Kostecki has shown glimpses of the grit and speed that helped him to championship glory last year, but only had a single podium in Darwin to show for it.

Second place behind van Gisbergen in Bathurst last year came amid a strategy miscue, with Kostecki later admitting he tasted defeat well before the race ended.

Bathurst was always on Kostecki's mind. After he won the title last November, he labelled Bathurst a case of "unfinished business." After announcing his defection to Dick Johnson Racing for 2025, he marked Bathurst as his goal for this season.

Come Sunday, and he denied a determined Broc Feeney to tick that box, an achievement that has yet to sink in.

"It's redemption from last year for sure. We didn't quite have the race car we had this year, and I was surprised to get pole," an emotional Kostecki said in PIRTEK Victory Lane.

"The car was stellar throughout the whole day, and I'm honestly just in awe, and I can't wait to have a drink with this guy tonight and the whole team, and we'll celebrate it and enjoy the moment."

Kostecki hailed the influence of Hazelwood and engineer George Commins, who coached the champion through the weekend to secure a pole/win double.

"Honestly I can't believe it, this guy here did a great job the whole weekend, I knew we had a fast car, we just didn't quite chase it enough there towards the end," Kostecki added.

"George tuned it up for the end there, and we just had enough to stay in front of Broc. Big thank you to the whole team and Chiko, they came onboard for this round and I dare say they got their coverage.

"I can't believe it, I just want to say thank you to everyone on my side, and also on Car #9, George my engineer and Tom [Moore] from the other car.

"I just can't believe it, I'm just in awe at the moment."

Kostecki and Feeney traded fast times after a Safety Car restart, but the Chiko Camaro ultimately had the edge: "We had a really good car through the middle stint when the sun was out, but as soon as the cloud came over we seemed to struggle a bit and lost a little bit of front.

"George tuned it up for the last one there and it was just enough to stay in front of Broc there, but Broc was breathing down my neck the whole time, and they were 32 Shootout laps, it was balls to the walls the whole time.

"It's kind of funny around here, you can bring your pace back a little bit and you can get yourself into trouble, so I knew if I just did shootout laps I wouldn't make a mistake.

"Just glad to really get this one ticked off the bucket list, and can't wait to celebrate with all the guys and girls tonight."