Wildcards confirmed for Phillip Island return

Thomas Randle and Kurt Kostecki will make their third wildcard appearances of the 2021 season at Phillip Island in October.

The sweeping Victorian circuit will host its first event since 2019 with the Bunnings Trade Phillip Island SuperSprint across October 23-24.

Wildcards Randle and Kostecki were locked in for three rounds in Tailem Bend, Darwin and Perth.

However, the cancellation of the Perth event, which was slated for September, saw the young guns set for a venue change.

On Wednesday, Supercars confirmed Tickford Racing and Walkinshaw Andretti United will field wildcards for Randle and Kostecki respectively at Phillip Island.

Both drivers impressed in their Tailem Bend and Darwin starts; notably, both drivers reached the top 10 in the Darwin opener in June.

Randle finished eighth in the chaotic Race 10 at the OTR SuperSprint in between finishes of 17th and 15th.

The 2020 Super2 champion followed it up at Hidden Valley with finishes of ninth, 25th and 11th.

Kostecki, the older brother of Matt Stone Racing driver Jake, finished 19th, 16th and 23rd in the three Tailem Bend events.

He scored his best career Supercars finish of sixth in Race 12 in Darwin, before finishing 23rd and 17th on the Sunday.

Neither driver has made a main game start at Phillip Island; Kostecki scored finishes of 12th, eighth and eighth in the Super2 event in 2016, and recorded two more top 10s in 2017.

Randle, who scored a full-time Tickford seat for 2022, hasn’t made a Super2 start at Phillip Island, but was a front-running contender at the circuit in the S5000 series in March.

The 2021 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at Winton across October 2-3.