The key markers of Kostecki's 2023 success

It has been a season to remember for Brodie Kostecki, with the Erebus Motorsport driver heading into the enduros as the 2023 title favourite.

After eight rounds, Kostecki has the biggest points lead — 137 — of the season held by any driver so far. Previous to that, he had a 109 point lead after Race 14 in Darwin.

Kostecki has weathered several storms this season, both in the guise of teammate Will Brown, both Red Bull Ampol Racing drivers, and the likes of Chaz Mostert and Cam Waters.

There are several stats which point to a Kostecki championship this season, and should he get there, he would be the first non-Triple Eight or DJR driver to do so since 2015.

Should he win next month’s Penrite Oil Sandown 500 with David Russell, Kostecki would become the 15th driver in the history of the ATCC/Supercars Championship to have won four races in a row.

He has also been a fixture of the front at every race; only Brown (176 laps) and Shane van Gisbergen (171) have led more laps in 2023, although they both led long races in Townsville and Newcastle from go to woe.

Heading into the business end of the season, Supercars.com highlights four key metrics that have defined Kostecki’s run to the front this year.

Dominance over teammate

The barometer to performance is benchmarking yourself against your teammate, and Kostecki has largely had Brown’s measure this season. Kostecki leads both the qualifying and race head-to-heads over Brown 16-6, has six wins to Brown’s four, and 15 podiums to Brown’s nine.

One lap pace

Kostecki has emerged as the shining light over one lap, taking his fifth and sixth poles of the season at The Bend. Kostecki’s average qualifying result of 4.9 is well ahead of next best Feeney’s 7.36. Teammate Brown is next on 7.41, ahead of Waters (7.9) and van Gisbergen (8.2).

Trophy hunting

Kostecki's trophy cabinet is filling up quickly with 15 podiums from 22 starts. The next best hasn’t cracked 10 — Brown and Feeney have nine podiums each, ahead of van Gisbergen on eight. Kostecki has missed the podium just seven times, in Newcastle (15th to sixth), Tasmania (caught up in hairpin incident), all three races in Darwin, Townsville and Sydney (both mechanical).

When asked about the ongoing title fight at The Bend, Kostecki said: “You’re sort of thinking about it all the time. “I sort of just jump in the car and do my job. If you have good results, the championship looks after itself."

Damage limitation

Championships are often won by a driver’s efforts to minimise damage on the scoreboard when they’re not winning. Between Albert Park and Tasmania, Kostecki scored10 straight podiums, but only two were wins — both coming at Albert Park.

Critically, Kostecki kept the scoreboard ticking over despite setbacks, headlined by a stirring drive from 14th to third in the Albert Park finale thanks to a clean run and strategy masterclass. He also settled for second in Perth despite losing out in a thrilling battle to van Gisbergen, rather than making another desperate lunge and risking zero points.

Of the seven times he missed the podium, he was no lower than eighth four times — sixth in Newcastle after starting 15th, fourth twice in Darwin, and eighth in Sydney after suffering clutch issues.