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QUEENSLAND RACEWAY SUPERCARS RACES 26 & 27
Matt Payne came to Queensland Raceway with the 2026 Repco Supercars Sprint Championship all but secured. A pair of front row starts for races 26 and 27 at the Century Batteries Ipswich Super 440. Somehow those opportunities slipped out of his hands as Brodie Kostecki and then Will Brown claimed the two Saturday races.
Payne and Kostecki shared the front row for Race 26, with the Penrite Racing machine on the inside line. The #17 swept wide on the approach to Turn 1 as Payne’s attention was momentarily diverted to Will Brown lurking on his right.
Kostecki led at the exit of the opening corner from Payne and Brown and Mostert, who had to back out of a challenge for third after contact with the Red Bull Ampol Racing driver. Teammate Feeney then had a similar moment with Kai Allen on the approach to Turn 2.
Mostert responded on the run out of turn 2 with he and Brown running side-by-side for the better part of the opening lap. That exchange eventually fell in favour of Mostert, but also allowed Kostecki and Payne top open up a handsome lead to the rest of the field.
Brown regained third on Lap 9 as Mostert elected to pit early in an attempt to gain an undercut on the leaders. It looked a likely chance as Kostecki and Payne continued an arm wrestle for supremacy.
It wasn’t until Lap 19 that Payne made his stop with Kostecki replying a lap later. That handed the lead to Brown, who was revelling in a car that now had the speed to match his rivals.
Who would have thought that a tenth here and there could mean so much?
That undercut worked to perfection as Mostert assumed to actual lead of those who had stopped from Allen, Kostecki and Payne.
The #17 Shell V-Power Mustang had returned to the track under a cloud of sorts, having elected to driver through the Team 18 pit bay as they readied themselves for Anton De Pasquale.
That move had Team 18 crew scrambling for cover as Kostecki drove on, earning the ire of the stewards, who eventually chose to fine and penalise the team and not the driver.
Kai Allem made Brodie Kostecki’s task of overhauling the two ahead that much easier when the Penrite Racing driver pushed past Mostert at the exit of Turn 5. That had the Optus Supra off the track with Allen and Kostecki through. The #17 then had better drive off the final corner and powered past down the front straight. At that same moment Payne did likewise to Mostert.
Mostert was none to happy and neither were the stewards who handed Allen a 5 second penalty.
Kostecki went on the take the win from Payne and Allen. That post race penalty elevated Brown to a much needed podium.
The victory marked Shell V-Power Racing’s first win at Queensland Raceway in the Repco Supercars Championship.
“It’s only a Sprint Race, but it means a lot to me to win here in front of DJ,” Kostecki exclaimed.
Race 27 looked to be a reflection of the earlier affair, with Payne and Kostecki, Brown and Mostert once again occupying the front rows of the grid.
This time things unfolded quite differently.
Rather than sweep around the outside, Kostecki stuck to the rear bumper of the Payne Mustang on the run to Turn 1 with Brown right behind. This time it was Mostert who looked to take the outside line on Brown through the opening corner but it didn’t work in the Supra driver’s favour.
Brown had secured third place by the exit of Turn 3 as Rylan Gray plunged through the gravel at the exit of the corner. It sent the second Shell V-Power driver to the rear of the field after the team had worked tirelessly to change an engine between races.
Payne had clear air out in front for two short laps until Kostecki managed to squeeze up the inside at the final corner. The placed the #17 on the inside line for turn 1 as Lap 3 began. Payne tried to retake the lead on the inside at Turn 2 with a bump or two on Kostecki at the exit.
That moment opened the door for Brown to launch his own challenge on the #19 Penrite Racing Ford Mustang. Payne ran on the extreme right edge of the track to defend his position on the run to Turn 3. He ran wide at the exit which allowed Brown, who had become no stranger to this side-by-side stuff, on the outside for Turns 4 and 5. He barely hung onto a piece of bitumen on the exit of Turn5, which gave him the ideal position for Turn 6.
Payne was not to be outdone and gained the upper hand down the front straight to remain in second place. Brown perhaps thought better on another attack and slotted into third.
Whilst discretion was the better part of valor in Race 26, that appeared to fall by the wayside as the sun began to set behind the back straight.
An ambitious prod by Jayden Ojeda on David Reynolds at Turn 6 and Lap 10, led to contact and both cars spinning towards the gravel. Reynolds ended in the gravel but neither car became stranded, just relegated to the tail of the pack.
Mostert was once again the first of the lead group to stop, this time on a less ambitious pit window. His stop on Lap 16 of 39 meant he had run twice as long than he did in Race 26. Hopefully it would lead to the same undercut without the late tyre degradation.
Payne stopped on the following lap and then Kostecki the lap after.
Brown was in next and was fortunate not to tag the inside pit wall having locked a wheel just before the pit entry line.
As the leaders continued to cycle through their pit stops, it was Allen who held the effective race lead from Kostecki, Payne, Brown and Mostert. Broc Feeney held the lead of the race with 18 laps left to run, but had not yet stopped. When he did so on Lap 23, he resumed behind Mostert in what would be 6th place.
Kostecki ran long into Turn 3 that same lap in an attempt to pass Allen. The #17 ran wide on the exit and dropped two wheels into the gravel. That compromised exit saw Payne and Brown move ahead.
Fellow Shell V-Power driver Rylan Gray did the same a lap or so later, though this time ran much further into the gravel with no way out for the #38.
That brought out the Safety Car in what proved to be more than a cameo during the final portion of the race.
Allen led Payne and Brown at the restart with 9 laps left. Brown seized an opportunity to squeeze inside Payne at Turn 2 on Lap 31 with the pair bumping each other on the long run towards Turn 3. Payne looked to have some damage to the left front of his Penrite Racing Mustang with light smoke coming from the wheel and tyre.
Brown was through at the exit while Payne appeared to slow as he ran out of tarmac. That looked to have caught out Kostecki, who then tapped the right rear of the #19. Payne hung on for half a lap before the #17 was through on the approach to Turn 1.
An incident between Zach Bates and wildcard driver Ben Gomersall, had the Unit Racing Mustang in the gravel at Turn 6. The Safety Car was introduced moments before Gomersall managed to extricate his car, with Allen under siege from Brown.
The race became a short six lap sprint to the finish as Allen and Brown weaved for position down the front straight. A touch or two followed before Brown grabbed the inside line into Turn 2.
Kostecki followed the new leader through and then challenged Brown on the outside at Turn 3 as Feeney moved up the inside of Allen at the same corner. The #17 ran out onto the grass at the exit of the corner, which placed Feeney into second. Kostecki responded at Turn 4 and regained the position.
That dice proved to be pivotal for Will Brown, who edged out to a 1.5 second lead.
From there he was never headed to take the race win from Kostecki and Feeney.
To say Brown was elated on the cooldown lap in a gross understatement as he screamed amidst a series of burnouts at Turn 3.
“Give us the same equipment and see what happens,” Will Brown quipped when asked to share his feelings post-race.
“I just gotta say, what a mega race. On tv that looks amazing. Kai, Brodie, sorry Brodie I had to do it to you. You’ve won plenty of races this year!”
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