Brodie Kostecki secured his fourth victory of the season in Race 8 of the 2026 Supercars Championship in Taupō.
This weekend so far…
Brodie Kostecki and Ryan Wood both secured Pole positions at Qualifying for Races Eight and Nine at the 2026 ITM Taupō Super 440. Kostecki looked dominant over both sessions, however it was Wood, who edged out the field. The Kiwi secured Toyota’s first Pole Position in the 2026 Supercars Championship.
Fast start for Kostecki
Starting from the front row, Broc Feeney initially looked to challenge Kostecki into Turn 1 but found himself on the unfavourable line, allowing the #17 Ford to hold position. Kostecki then aggressively defended into Turn 3, forcing Matt Payne wide and ensuring he retained the lead. From there, the race quickly settled into a rhythm at the front, with Kostecki managing the pace while chaos unfolded deeper in the pack.
Early drama saw Kai Allen suffer heavy contact across multiple corners, including clashes with Ryan Wood and Anton De Pasquale. The incidents left Allen with steering damage before a further collision involving Aaron Cameron and Jobe Stewart forced both Allen and Stewart out of contention.
As the race developed, Brown emerged as Kostecki’s closest challenger. After passing Payne, he rapidly closed in on the leading group and dispatched teammate Feeney on Lap 9 to move into second.
Super Softs proved critical
The first signs of tyre degradation appeared on the Super Soft compound, with Thomas Randle dropping down the order, while Feeney also began to struggle before a brief power loss on Lap 16 cost him track position.
The pit cycle proved decisive. Brown attempted an undercut on Kostecki, but the championship leader responded calmly, stopping on Lap 20 and rejoining ahead. From that point, Kostecki controlled proceedings at the front with ease. The race shifted again in pit lane, where Payne was penalised five seconds after an unsafe release involving Waters.
Waters’ afternoon worsened further with a 15-second speeding penalty before late contact with Jayden Ojeda spun him out of contention. Meanwhile, a fierce multi-car battle developed behind the leaders. Chaz Mostert, Feeney, and Wood engaged in an intense scrap for third, featuring repeated contact down the back straight before positions changed hands multiple times.
Wood soon emerged as the fastest car on track, dispatching Feeney and setting his sights on Brown. In the closing stages, Wood closed rapidly on Brown, setting up a thrilling fight for second. The Kiwi made multiple attempts around the outside at Turn 11, but Brown’s defensive driving proved decisive. Twice, Wood was forced wide as Brown held firm, ultimately securing second place by just 0.4 seconds in one of the most hard-fought battles of the season so far.
Final classification and the Championship
Kostecki’s dominant victory marks his fourth win of the season, further strengthening his grip on the championship. A troubled race for Cam Waters allowed Kostecki to extend his lead to 61 points.
Payne crossed the line fourth but was relegated to fifth due to his penalty, promoting Feeney to fourth. James Golding, Mostert, De Pasquale, Jack Le Brocq, and David Reynolds completed the top 10.
With momentum firmly on his side, Kostecki heads into the second race of the day as the clear benchmark, while the Brown and Wood rivalry continues to intensify after their Taupō showdown. With both drivers starting side by side for Race 9, Taupō is expected to have another interesting race later this afternoon.
Race 9 will occur at 3:30pm local time.
Final Supercars Race 8 classification and results from Taupō
- Kostecki
- Brown
- Wood
- Feeney
- Payne
- Golding
- Mostert
- De Pasquale
- Le Brocq
- Reynolds
- Hill
- Heimgartner
- Murray
- Fraser
- Gray
- Jones
- Bates
- Ojeda
- Randle
- Cameron
- Waters
- Walls
- Allen
- Stewart
