Erebus: Tickford's Kostecki criticism unfair

Criticism of Brodie Kostecki over his clash with James Moffat is unfair, says Erebus Motorsport CEO Barry Ryan.

Moffat and Kostecki fought for the effective lead after a Safety Car restart in Bathurst.

On lap 46, Moffat got turned around at The Cutting, and dropped to the rear of the train.

Replays showed Kostecki ranging alongside Moffat into the corner, which has a steep 1 in 6 grade exit.

Critically, Kostecki was cleared by stewards and raced on.

Cam Waters, driving with Moffat, later denied Kostecki and David Russell a second straight Bathurst podium.

Moffat later labelled Kostecki a “dickhead” in the post-race press conference.

Criticism also came from Tickford Racing boss Tim Edwards, who labelled Kostecki an “imbecile”.

The wall view of the incident

Edwards also claimed the incident potentially cost the #6 a shot at victory.

When asked by media about the incident, Kostecki replied: ”Just don’t turn in.”

Ryan defended his driver, and was adamant Moffat turned in.

"Brodie was left a gap at the Cutting,” Ryan said.

“As James Moffat does in everything he drives, he had tunnel vision or is just stupid and turned in on Brodie, ask anyone he races.

“For James and Tim to label Brodie a dickhead and imbecile publicly when it was clear Brodie made a racing move on an amateur driver is completely unfair.

“The incident was also cleared by the stewards.

"If Tickford want to blame someone for losing their shot at a Bathurst win, they need to look at their own co-driver and his actions.

"Brodie and Dave drove the wheels off the 99 car and chose their fights like professional drivers do.”

Erebus also managed to recover Will Brown/Jack Perkins to 10th despite the car being damaged in an early incident.

Perkins was sent spinning in front of the field on Mountain Straight just seconds after the start.

He managed to crawl the car back to the garage, and Erebus mechanics rapidly repaired the car.

The #9 went from nearly two laps down to into the top 10, a smart result considering the chaos of the start.

Kostecki and Brown are eighth and 13th respectively heading to the Gold Coast.

The 2022 season will continue at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 on October 28-30.