Kostecki avoids penalty over Slade clash

Brodie Kostecki has avoided penalty over a first-lap clash with Tim Slade in the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 opener.

Slade’s #23 Nulon Camaro ran into the tyre barriers at the front chicane in Race 25.

It came after Kostecki and Slade had arrived side-by-side at Turn 1, with the #99 Coca-Cola Camaro bumping the PremiAir Chevrolet into the barriers.

Kostecki was investigated over the incident, but was cleared of any wrongdoing.

“A Request for Investigation [was] received from PremiAir Racing Pty Ltd into the Incident involving Car 99, Brodie Kostecki, and Car 23, Tim Slade, at Turn 2 on Lap 1,” the stewards’ report reads.

“On the available broadcast vision that was reviewed, neither Driver was wholly or predominately to blame for the Incident.”

Kostecki went on to finish fifth, and will head into Sunday with a reduced 104-point lead over Race 25 runner-up Shane van Gisbergen.

Van Gisbergen himself was also investigated over his move for the lead on Matt Payne on lap 29. No breach of the rule was established upon reviewing the available broadcast vision of the incident.

For Kostecki, the race was a matter of damage limitation after his error in the ARMOR ALL Top Ten Shootout, before he fell away in the last stint of the race.

“It wasn’t too bad, car felt pretty good off the start, I was able to pick off a few spots off the start,” Kostecki said.

“I really got going in the middle stint, and was looking forward to trucking home, and it didn’t really come alive in the last stint.

“Not really sure what happened, if something in the car. It was pretty ugly towards the end there.

“I knew a few guys had five-second penalties behind me, so I tried to minimise risk. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to catch Tom [Randle]."

Given he is defending a series lead, Kostecki was surprised some of his rivals thought he would move over, given he had so much more to lose.

“I think a few guys thought maybe I was going to give them right of way, but you can’t really do that in this game,” Kostecki said.

“I don’t want to get involved in someone else’s crash… I got a really good start, got the hole shot off the line on a few of them.

“Not sure who was on my outside, but I think they ended up in the tyre wall or something. It’s just racing at the end of the day.”