BY JOANNA GUELAS for AAP
BATHURST, NSW. — Brodie Kostecki will start at the top of the Bathurst 1000 grid for the third year in a row.
Kostecki becomes the third driver in Supercars history to win three straight pole positions at the Great Race after taking out Saturday’s Top 10 Shootout.
The Dick Johnson Racing driver was near-flawless as the final driver out on the Mount Panorama circuit, setting a lap time of two minutes and 4.0413 seconds to win pole.
Last year’s Bathurst 1000 winner, Kostecki, joins legendary duo Peter Brock and Allan Moffat as the only drivers to have completed the feat.
He pipped second-fastest Tickford rival Cam Waters by 0.176 seconds.
Chaz Mostert was third and will share the second row with Walkinshaw Andretti United teammate Ryan Wood.
Supercars championship leader Broc Feeney struggled to replicate his extraordinary qualifying form and finished fifth after losing time at the top of the mountain.
Erebus Motorsport rookie Cooper Murray impressed in his first shootout at the Bathurst 1000 to qualify sixth.
“It was expected. We’ve been leading up to this and he’s been really fired up about Bathurst for six months now,” Erebus boss Barry Ryan told AAP.
Nick Percat, who will retire from full-time driving at the end of the season, was 10th after running wide at the final corner.
Percat won the Bathurst 1000 in 2011 on his first attempt, co-driving for Garth Tander.
“I’m going to be annoying for the rest of my life,” Matt Stone Racing driver Percat joked.
Feeney’s teammate Will Brown, who will start 12th on the grid, survived a late scare during practice earlier on Saturday.
The defending Supercars champion almost suffered a day-ending crash when rival Mostert veered into his path down pit straight.
Mostert had done so in a bid to avoid Tickford driver Thomas Randle, forcing Brown to take evasive action into the grass at the first turn.
Walkinshaw Andretti United driver Mostert confronted Randle in the garages, before apologising to Brown – who said over the team radio he had “pooped in his pants”.
“Randle’s doing his own thing out there. He’s not thinking about everyone else out there,” Mostert told Fox Sports.
Wildcard entrant Craig Lowndes, in the No.888 car with Zach Bates, will start his 32nd Bathurst 1000 and final race with Triple Eight in 16th.
The seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner equals motorsport legend and mentor Brock’s record at the Great Race.
BATHURST 1000 TOP 10 SHOOTOUT RESULTS:
1. Brodie Kostecki (Dick Johnson Racing)
2. Cam Waters (Tickford Racing)
3. Chaz Mostert (Walkinshaw Andretti United)
4. Ryan Wood (WAU)
5. Broc Feeney (Triple Eight Race Engineering)
6. Cooper Murray (Erebus Motorsport)
7. Thomas Randle (Tickford)
8. Cam Hill (Matt Stone Racing)
9. Anton De Pasquale (Team 18)
10. Nick Percat (MSR)
