Anton De Pasquale disaster, Brodie Kostecki under investigation
Jack Le Brocq 20th, De Pasquale 21st, Kai Allen 22nd in qualifying
Points leader Matt Payne 12th, missed top 10 for first time since May
A qualifying disaster for Anton De Pasquale has blown the door back open in the 2026 Finals race, with points leader Matt Payne another surprise scalp from Boost Mobile Qualifying.
De Pasquale, who moved to sixth overall after finishing fourth in Saturday’s Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 opener, slumped to 21st in qualifying — his worst qualifying result of the season.
The Team 18 driver, who missed out on Bathurst victory on the final lap, will launch from the rear of grid ahead of 2025 Grand Finalist Kai Allen, and behind fellow Camaro Finalist Jack Le Brocq.
Championship leader Payne, meanwhile, was 12th, missing the top 10 for the first time since Tasmania in May.
The first segment of Boost Mobile Qualifying was punctuated by an early red flag, after Jackson Walls crashed at the Beach Chicane. However, attention turned to Le Brocq, De Pasquale and Allen tumbling out, before replays cut to Brodie Kostecki being caught by David Reynolds into Turn 11.
Kostecki was placed under investigation by Motorsport Australia stewards over the alleged incident.
“It’s scary for those boys, it’s a shock to see them so far back,” said James Courtney in commentary, on the Finals trio missing out.
“They’ve been caught out by the track [conditions],” Mark Winterbottom added.
Over team radio, De Pasquale admitted he had "no idea what happened," claiming it felt like he had slick tyres on.
On the broadcast, De Pasquale added: "Obviously we just missed the window with pressures and stuff."
Broc Feeney went quickest in Q1 ahead of Saturday winner Chaz Mostert, Ryan Wood, Cameron Hill and Zach Bates. Feeney and teammate Will Brown delivered a Red Bull Ampol quinella in Q2, ahead of Kostecki, Mostert, Hill, Cooper Murray, Aaron Cameron, Jarrod Hughes, Cam Waters and Ryan Wood.
Payne, who is all but certain to progress to Sandown, said: "Just nowhere today. Ever since we rolled out, just really struggled for front and rear grip. Felt like we completely missed the window with the tyres, so, no idea what's going on, to be honest.
"Really tried my best to try and squeak myself into 10th or ninth, but unfortunately we're just getting punished way too much in the back end of the lap where the time really matters."
Race 32 will commence at 2:45pm local time/3:45pm AEDT. Fox Sports, Kayo Sports, the Seven Network, and Sky NZ take live coverage. International fans can watch on SuperView.
