Kostecki explains Reynolds hit, speeding penalty

Brodie Kostecki copped three penalties in Race 18
Kostecki penalised over David Reynolds, hit with drive-throughs
Unsafe release, pit lane speed penalties for Kostecki

Brodie Kostecki says his wheel "got ripped out" of his hands in his costly tangle with David Reynolds, which led to two drive-through penalties in Sunday’s race.

The reigning champion made a lightning start from eighth at Symmons Plains, and hounded Reynolds for fourth in the early laps.

However, contact at the hairpin sent Reynolds into a spin and bogged on the grass, with Kostecki picking up a 15-second-penalty over the clash.

The Erebus Motorsport driver's race continued to unravel; he was released into the path of Reynolds' teammate Mark Winterbottom in the pit lane, attracting a drive-through penalty and damage that forced him out of contention.

He was the hit with another drive-through for "breaching the Pit Lane Speed limit and failing to activate the limiter before the line.”

Speaking on Supercars.com’s Schick Cool Down Lap podcast, Kostecki labelled the Reynolds incident as "unfortunate" and admitted he hit the limiter button “too late."

“Obviously had that little tangle with Dave and then with the full course yellow coming on, I thought I'd hit the button,” Kostecki said.

“And with all the lights flashing because of the full course yellow, but I didn't quite get the button.

"I wasn't speeding, just the button was on too late. It was just a bit of a rough day, but car had plenty of speed and was racing Dave there for a bit and he was blocking and doing his thing.

“Tried to pass him a lap before at the hairpin and tried to put me in the fence, so yeah, it was a bit unfortunate. We rubbed, touched wheels, and the wheels are shithouse.

“His rear end come off the ground and my wheel got ripped out of my hand. It’s just one of those things.”

The drive-throughs ultimately didn’t affect Kostecki’s performance, given he dropped laps as he underwent repairs. However, the 26-year-old was pleased with his car speed, having raced from third to fifth in Saturday’s race to lift himself off the bottom of the standings after missing the first two rounds.

“The silver lining for us is not the penalties, it’s that the car was quite pacey today.

“It was good yesterday in qualifying. We struggled a little bit at the start of the race, and I felt really strong at the start of last race today."