Hazelwood marks best Bathurst opportunity yet with Kostecki

Brodie Kostecki’s affinity with the Mountain has gun co-driver Todd Hazelwood confident of his “best opportunity” yet at the Great Race.

Since his 2017 debut, Hazelwood has Bathurst results of 12th, 20th, DNF, DNF, eighth, 20th and DNF. For the first time since 2017, Hazelwood is a designated co-driver, having raced full-time in Supercars between 2018 and 2023.

Straight out of the main game, Hazelwood has launched a title attack on the Trans Am category, and was among the fastest co-drivers at Sandown last month.

It came after Erebus Motorsport entrusted Hazelwood to stand in for Kostecki at the first two rounds, with the South Australian picking up three top 10s in six starts.

Hazelwood will race with Kostecki, who powered to pole last year with the biggest pole-winning margin in 20 years, and claimed podiums in 2021 and 2023 with David Russell.

“For me personally, it’s my best opportunity coming to the Bathurst 1000, teaming up with Brodie and Erebus,” said Hazelwood, who helped unveil the new-look Chiko Camaro on Wednesday morning.

“It gives me confidence knowing that I’m teaming up with a driver that has a fantastic strike rate here at Bathurst.

“He was the fastest man here at the Mountain last year, put it on pole position, and just came short finishing second.

Kostecki is a big fan of Hazelwood, who challenged Jamie Whincup for a podium position during the early stages of Sandown, only for contact to leave the Erebus Camaro with a puncture.

The duo fought back and held a top 10 position, only for an electrical issue to bring an end to their day.

“Having Todd onboard has been fantastic,” Kostecki told media on Wednesday morning.

“He’s done a great job all year so far, throughout the races at the start of the year and throughout the testing period, and Sandown as well.

“He’s probably the top pick of the co-drivers out there, it’s been great partnering with him.”

Having had a taste of the front-running at Sandown, Hazelwood is determined to not only bring his own personal best result home, but deliver a trophy to Erebus after a winless season.

“At Sandown, we felt like we had an extremely fast car, capable of winning, but we had no result. We want to turn those fortunes around,” the 29-year-old said.

“It’s been a tough year for Erebus Motorsport, so there’s no better race to win than Bathurst, and that really could be what salvages our year.

“We’re certainly hungry, we’re motivated, and watch this space, we’re going to be going all guns blazing to get a good result this weekend.”

Track action at Mount Panorama will commence on Thursday.