Slade explains costly Kostecki clash

Tim Slade has labelled his costly first lap, first corner clash at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 with Brodie Kostecki as "just one of those things".

Championship leader Kostecki avoided penalty over an incident with Slade, which saw the #23 Nulon Camaro nudged into the tyre barriers at the front chicane.

Kostecki and Slade had arrived side-by-side at Turn 1, and the two Chevrolets made contact. Kostecki carried on, but Slade — who started ninth — dropped to the back.

Slade managed to return to the race, but came home 21st in his damaged car, with his comeback efforts stunted by a lack of Safety Car. 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 heads into Sunday with a reduced 104-point lead over Race 25 runner-up Shane van Gisbergen.

It was a worse fate for Slade and Nulon Racing — Slade dropped from 12th to 15th in the drivers’ standings, with Nulon Racing dropping from seventh to ninth.

“It is just one of those things, where I don’t think it was anything intentional, it is just with the kerbs and the lack of space here,” Slade said.

“The car was fairly damaged after that, the steering was way out, and it was a bit of a tough slog for the rest of the race, especially as we were half a lap down on lap 1.

“I was praying for a Safety Car, but also unsure if I would have much to attack with if there was a Safety Car. I just pressed on and tried to learn as much as possible for tomorrow.

“The car didn’t feel too bad considering, so hopefully, we can get in the 10 again tomorrow and go on to have a cleaner race.”

Speaking after the race, Kostecki said: “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.

“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.”

Supercars will return to the track on Sunday for ARMOR ALL Qualifying at 10:05am local time/11:05am AEDT. The ARMOR ALL Top Ten Shootout will follow at 11:35am local time/12:35pm AEDT, before Race 26 at 2:15pm local time/3:15pm AEDT.