The Repco Supercars Championship visited Ruapuna Raceway on Friday for Race 10 of the ITM Christchurch Super 440. Matthew Payne started the race on the pole, while Brodie Kostecki started second.
It was a chaotic start on the opening. Brodie Kostecki got by Payne for the lead. Behind them, a Macauley Jones shot across the track and hit Cameron Hill and David Reynolds. Hill and Reynolds would not return to the race, while Macauley Jones re-emerged. Not long after, a yellow flag was displayed, but there was no safety car deployed, which confused a lot of drivers before the race quickly resumed.
Meanwhile, Kostecki, Ryan Wood, Matthew Payne, and Kai Allen all pulled away. Later in the race, Brodie Kostecki started to distance himself from Wood, while Allen took third place away from Payne. Kai Allen was the first driver to pit on lap 16. Ryan Wood and Matthew Payne went to pit road on lap 20, and Brodie Kostecki pitted a lap later.
Kostecki emerged from pit road and held off a charging Ryan Wood. Kostecki and Wood reeled in Kai Allen and made it a three-car battle for the lead with less than 10 laps to go. With three laps to go, Kostecki challenged Allen for the lead, but Allen held him off. Allen would extend his lead and go on to win his first career Supercars race by 0.742 seconds over Brodie Kostecki.
Ryan Wood, Matthew Payne, and Anton De Pasquale rounded out the top five. James Golding, Cameron Waters, Chaz Mostert, Zach Bates, and Broc Feeney completed the top ten. Click here to see the rest of the finishing order.
The Supercars continue the weekend at Ruapuna Raceway on Friday at 5:15 pm on YouTube
