The Repco Supercars Championship continued the NTI Townsville 500 weekend with Race 21 on Friday at Reid Park Street Circuit in Townsville, Queensland. Brodie Kostecki started the race on the pole, with Matthew Payne starting second. The race was 68 laps.
Brodie Kostecki got off to a good start on the opening lap to keep the lead from Matthew Payne. Payne had to deal with Thomas Randle and Ryan Wood after getting off to a slow start, but still kept second place. Heading into Turn 2, Aaron Cameron was pushed into the back of James Golding, causing bodywork damage to Golding that cut the right rear tire, and he went to pit road.
At the end of lap 19, Matthew Payne went to pit road. A lap later, Kostecki went to pit road. However, Kostecki’s left rear tire would not come off. By the time he left pit road, he was 12 seconds behind Payne, while Thomas Randle was second, trailing Payne by 10 seconds. Anton De Pasquale was the last driver to pit at lap 30. With fresh tires, De Pasquale quickly got by Broc Feeney and Kai Allen.
On lap 44, there was a five-car battle between Will Brown, Ryan Wood, Kai Allen, Broc Feeney, and Chaz Mostert. Allen was trying to pass Wood, but Wood blocked. Allen slid into Wood, breaking his steering, and Allen punctured his left rear tire.
Matthew Payne went to pit road for the final time on lap 50, along with Anton De Pasquale. Once the final pit stops were complete, Payne had an 11-second lead over Brodie Kostecki. Anton De Pasquale fell to fourth, but with fresh tires got by Thomas Randle and Kostecki for second place. Up ahead. Matthew Payne went on to win his third race of the season by 15.289 seconds over De Pasquale.
Brodie Kostecki, Cameron Waters, and Thomas Randle rounded out the top five. Will Brown, Chaz Mostert, Broc Feeney, Jack Le Brocq, and David Reynolds completed the top ten. Click here to view the full results.
The Repco Supercars Championship concludes the NTI Townsville 500 weekend on Saturday at 6:10 pm on YouTube.
