FOR Brodie Kostecki, there is only one outcome that would constitute a pass mark for his first Supercars season with Dick Johnson Racing: winning the 2025 title.

Kostecki is knocking on the door of the championship’s top five, having increasingly become at one with the #38 Shell V-Power Mustang as the year has progressed.

His first Ford win came in July at Townsville, and last month he and Todd Hazelwood dominated The Bend 500 in an ominous warning to their rivals ahead of the Repco Bathurst 1000.

The 2023 champion has already punched his finals ticket, but through nine rounds, where does he feel his combination with DJR is at?

“I think in our world, you’re never happy unless you’re winning everything. The day that I settle for complacency is the day that I’ll ultimately retire,” Kostecki told V8 Sleuth.

“I do think we’re making progress and we’re getting better each round and becoming a little bit more consistent and more competitive.

“We’ve definitely shown some real great spurts of speed, obviously with the Townsville Friday and being quite fast in New Zealand, but we haven’t really been able to package it all together for a full successful weekend.

“It was great to obviously get another win at The Bend, the 500. I was joking with Todd leading up to the enduros, I said, ‘don’t worry, we’ll have it all sorted by enduros’. So it was great to obviously get another win with him – two out of three ain’t so bad so far with him.”

Kostecki still feels there is plenty of untapped potential through which further gains can be made, as he continues to drive an unrelenting standard.

“I think for us, winning the championship would be a pass mark,” he said with reference to the ongoing campaign.

“Anything else is just unacceptable. There’s so much effort that goes into this team, we have got such great people.

Brodie Kostecki on his way to victory in the AirTouch 500 at The Bend. Pic: Supplied/Mark Horsburgh

“We’re still all trying to build up to the same goal of being a race-winning team competitively week in, week out and I feel like we’re getting there.

“Hopefully come Adelaide time we’re in some great form and we have got a lot of momentum on our side.”

Helping that momentum would be another big enduro result next week at Bathurst, where he and Hazelwood are the reigning champions from their 2024 tilt with Erebus Motorsport.

“We’re going into one of the biggest races of the year and one of the biggest in the world, and I’m going into the race pretty confident that we can have a pretty good chance at it as long as everything is all fair between both manufacturers going in,” said Kostecki.

“I was obviously fortunate enough to win it with everyone at Erebus and in the other make of car.”

The Undercut – Unpacking The Bend & Bringing on The Mountain

V8 Sleuth’s take on the world of Supercars from The Bend & Bathurst, with thanks to Shell OTR!