THE Shell V-Power Racing team is set for an overnight engine change in the Ford Mustang of Brodie Kostecki, following an overheating drama stemming from a mid-race off-track moment at Ruapuna Raceway in race 12 of season 2026.

After serving up a masterclass to win race 11 earlier in the day from pole position, the 2023 champion was in the thick of the action in the second 120 km-long race.

Kostecki ran fourth in the early running, before taking a 2-tyre pit stop on lap 14 of 37.

Following in the wheel tracks of Ryan Wood on Lap 26, the pair speared off the track at turn 3, with Kostecki’s Mustang copping a grille full of dirt.

Managing elevated engine temperatures in the closing laps, the championship leader held onto fifth at the chequered flag.

“I couldn’t even see where I was going,” said Kostecki.

“The windscreen got really dirty, like lap 5 or 6, and it was sort of hard to see, and there were a lot of marbles off line.

“So, it was quite hard to place the Shell V-Power Ford Mustang, that was a horrible race for us, and we’ll take fifth.

“(The engine’s) getting changed tonight, it got pretty hot, so the girls and boys will pull it out and put a new one in for tomorrow.

“We just have to be a bit faster.

“We struggled a lot at the start of the race, but I felt like after the pit stop, I started coming back towards the front towards Broc (Feeney) and (Ryan) Woody, but ultimately, we just weren’t fast enough.

“We just need to do a bit of homework and try to be better tomorrow.”

Across the DJR garage, Rylan Gray registered his first top-10 result of his young Supercars career, and even led laps for the first time.

However, that long run during his first stint was somewhat inadvertent, as radio communications between the pit and the #38 Mustang broke down.

“It was a pretty fun race to be honest, we lost radio probably lap 5, so I had no idea when we were going to pit, luckily I saw the board and came in,” said Gray.

“We were flying at the end there, it was pretty cool to get past Will (Brown) and Chaz (Mostert), and we were starting to catch the other guys.

“Pretty good race from us.”

Tomorrow’s action will feature a two-part qualifying leading into a top-10 shootout, rounded out by a 200km race.

Classic memories from the Adelaide Street Circuit

One of our highlights from season one of The Undercut was this awesome chat with Jack Perkins and James Moffat, recalling some brilliant memories from 40 years of racing on the streets of the Adelaide Street Circuit!