Brodie Kostecki delivered a dominant performance at The Bend, securing his seventh pole position of the 2026 Repco Supercars Championship in the Top Ten Shootout for the AirTouch 500. The defending event winner was the only driver to improve on his qualifying benchmark during the one-lap showdown, putting himself and co-driver Todd Hazelwood in prime position to fight for another victory after their success in 2025.
The Shootout produced plenty of action before Kostecki ultimately took control. Jobe Stewart made his first-ever Shootout appearance on home soil and survived a dramatic slide through Turn 2, while Cam Waters produced a strong lap to move the benchmark forward. Thomas Randle came within just 0.0132 seconds of Waters, before Kostecki attacked the circuit aggressively and set a 1:16.3756s lap to establish a time that proved extremely difficult to beat.
Matt Payne looked capable of stealing pole after gaining around five hundredths of a second through the opening sectors. However, the rear of his Mustang stepped out at the penultimate corner, costing him the crucial time needed to overhaul Kostecki. Anton De Pasquale, the final driver to run, also failed to dislodge the defending winner, settling for fifth. Kostecki and Hazelwood will therefore start from the front alongside Payne and Will Davison, with Waters/Mark Winterbottom occupying the second row alongside Randle/Reuben Goodall.
Away from the battle for pole, qualifying was also overshadowed by a frightening near-miss involving Ryan Wood and Payne. Wood was returning to the circuit as Payne and Kai Allen were preparing their timed laps, and although Wood moved away from the racing line, Payne arrived at high speed and had to take evasive action. Payne described the moment over team radio as almost being like an “aeroplane crash,” highlighting just how serious the situation appeared at more than 250km/h.
Wood later apologised for the incident and suggested there had been an element of gamesmanship around cars leaving the pit lane, although he accepted some responsibility himself. Payne, however, rejected the idea that anyone was deliberately playing games, saying the timing simply created a dangerous situation. Despite the scare, both drivers escaped unharmed, while Wood could only manage 14th in qualifying despite setting the fastest first sector during the closing
stages.
