Brodie Kostecki has doubled down on his post-qualifying comments which are the talk of the paddock at Bathurst and left Mark Skaife “bewildered”.

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Shell V-Power Racing Team star Kostecki powered to provisional pole in an enthralling Boost Mobile Qualifying session on Friday afternoon.

However, Kostecki cut a frustrated figure in the press conference, claiming Ford was still at a performance disadvantage.

“We need to get our upgrade to fix the deficit to the Camaro’s – 2k’s an hour on average and it’s a bit disappointing nothing’s been done about it after a report’s been published. It’s just cr*p,” he said.

When reporter Chad Neylon said he’d play “devil’s advocate” and argue Kostecki had the fastest car on Friday, the DJR star replied: “Doesn’t matter”.

“The system’s pretty flawed – the best way to put it is… it’s like a footy grand final, points are tied and there’s a free kick and you have to ask the other side to miss the free kick to win the grand final. It’s pretty disappointing for everyone that’s on the Ford side,” he claimed.

“It’s going to make it incredibly difficult come Sunday. We’re doing the best job we can with what we’ve got.”

Kostecki’s criticism had Skaife “bewildered”, with the Supercars legend shooting down claims of any parity issue.

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‘Very disappointing’ Kostecki fires up | 02:42

“I can’t believe it to be honest,” Skaife said on Saturday.

“We’ve done so much work as a business to make sure these two cars are as close as they can be. Yesterday was absolutely epic. That top 10 was the closest top 10 in history at this place. “The top six cars are separated by less than a tenth of a second and when you think about three Mustangs and three Camaros in the top six separated by nothing is extraordinary.

“So, to claim that there is some parity issue, I’m bewildered by that. That blows me away.”

Naturally, Kostecki’s comments set off a chain reaction of questions, with Ryan Wood weighing in, and Jamie Whincup refusing to make comment.

Meanwhile, when asked about Kostecki’s comments about the parity issue earlier in the week, Broc Feeney was quick to point the most recent result.

“I mean, they went pretty well at The Bend,” Feeney quipped.

Reigning champion Will Brown is good friends with Kostecki, and the two co-host their new podcast, Lucky Dogs.

However, when asked about his mate’s remarks on Saturday morning, Brown was confused, given how close the session was, and that Kostecki was quickest.

“Yeah, it’s an interesting one. After getting pole, to make those comments and not just celebrate it is a very interesting way to go about it,” Brown said before Practice 5.

“I think their team’s obviously unhappy, but funny thing is, they’re quicker than us in both straight line sectors on the time sheet.

“It’s a weird one, and it’s the closest top 10 I’ve ever seen at Bathurst, and I think we’ve ever seen.

“So, I think just get into the racing and everyone put their heads down and have a good race and leave that side out of it.

“Unless they think they’re four tenths better than the field, I think we’ve got parity.”

Brodie doubles down on parity complaint | 00:48

Kostecki is a hot favourite to claim a hat-trick of Bathurst poles, having topped both Shootouts in 2023 and 2024 aboard an Erebus Motorsport Chevrolet.

Brown was more disappointed over his own performance, qualifying 12th and missing the top 10 for the 11th time in 27 attempts this season. Teammate Broc Feeney was second, and extended his head-to-head lead over Brown to a staggering 25-2.

“[Kostecki] seemed pretty happy last year, he said they’re just a bunch of whingers,” Brown joked.

“But to be honest, I don’t wanna get too into it, because I think that it was competitive. I think it was an awesome qualifying session that everyone at home and all the fans should have really enjoyed to see it be that tight.

“I don’t think any other category in the world is as tight as our category, so hopefully we can just get on with the racing and have a good race.”

Kostecki doubled down on his comments before Practice 5, saying on the broadcast: “We just put in our best efforts forward from the directive from the category on what areas to focus on.

“But, it’s pretty evident where the problem lies. And, there’s a separate issue coming to this altitude. So it’s very, very technical, but they published a paper and nothing’s been done about it.”

When asked by Mark Larkham about how data showed the #38 Ford was quicker that the #88 on the straights, Kostecki added: “You’ve done three pieces to camera saying how close parity is, but we keep getting adjustments.

“So, at the end of the day, there still is a deficit. I’ve been pretty vocal from day one that there’s been differences… it just needs to be fixed.”

— with Supercars.com