BRODIE Kostecki has turned the tables on Kai Allen by claiming victory in the second Supercars race from Ruapuna Raceway.

After the youngster broke through for his maiden victory yesterday afternoon, a swift start and a tyre advantage following the compulsory pit stop placed him hot on the tail of the 2023 champion.

Despite a concerted effort in the closing stages, Allen fell short by half a second.

The victory means that the Championship leader has now won at nine different circuits, with his 16th top-flight win his eighth since joining Shell V-Power Racing at the start of last season.

“I got a ripper start again, we’re dialled in on that this weekend,” said Kostecki.

“We changed a lot on the car, with the same sort of pace to the guys next to us, stoked to get the win obviously.

“We had our little pit stop fumble, but I was able to use the clean air to my advantage towards the end.

“Kai did everything he could; he was right on my bumper, and sort of when his tyres got hot, it was sort of game over.”

Ryan Wood scored another Toyota podium, while his teammate Chaz Mostert languished in 13th.

Will Brown ultimately was in the photo for the bottom step of the podium in leading home stablemate Broc Feeney.

Anton De Pasquale drove well to hold out Cameron Waters for sixth, then came Jayden Ojeda, Aaron Cameron and Zach Bates.

It was a sweet-and-sour race for the Penrite Racing outfit, with Matt Payne in a strong position after stopping late; however, his left-rear wheel was not secured properly and departed company with the car on track.

He was classified in 19th.

It was a dreadful race for Brad Jones Racing, with both André Heimgartner and Cameron Hill forced to the garage with steering damage after being on the receiving end of different serves of contact.

Race 12 for the 2026 season is scheduled for 2:10pm AEST/ 4:10pm NZST today.

Key moments from Race 11

START: #17 Kostecki led the field away from pole position, while #26 Allen made the fastest of the starts to land in second. #2 Wood slotted into third, while #88 Feeney bumped #19 Payne at turn 2. Payne ultimately landed in fourth.

LAP 2: #55 Randle was run to the inside extremity of the main straight by #8 Heimgartner, before gaining 10th place. The BJR driver ran wide at turn 3 before drifting to 17th in a brutal sequence. He ultimately drifted to the rear of the field.

LAP 4: #31 Ojeda made it past #55 Randle for 10th.

LAP 4: With #777 Fraser (who underwent significant steering repairs pre-race) valiantly defending ahead of an angry pack, a drive from #20 Reynolds resulted in contact with #9 Stewart, who speared into #14 Hill. Hill subsequently shortcut the circuit en route back to the pits with suspension damage. He was joined by his BJR teammate #8, Heimgartner, with similar damage. Reynolds was assessed a 15s penalty for the squeeze at the hairpin.

LAP 8: #2 Wood ran wide at turn 3 before #19 Payne relieved him of third position at turn 4.

LAP 9: #17 Kostecki ran wide at turn 2, allowing #26 Allen to close in on the lead.

LAP 10: #18 De Pasquale was the first car to stop.

LAP 12: #31 Ojeda stopped, ditto #20 Reynolds, who sat idle, taking his penalty, as the General Motors aligned teams pitted early, with the exception of #777 Fraser.

LAP 16: Both #17 Kostecki and #26 Allen stopped – the pair held station with Kostecki taking two tyres, and Allen four.

LAP 17: #2 Wood headed to the pits and re-emerged behind #26 Allen.

LAP 18: #888 Brown took his stop.

LAP 19: #7 Golding lost it on the way into the pits and clouted the wall, and while he was attempting an Austin Powers-styled multi-point turn, he was nearly cleaned up by #96 Jones.

LAP 20: #88 Feeney (only three tyres after a rattle gun jammed), #6 Waters and #7 Cameron, amongst others, pitted, while #26 Allen was all over #17 Kostecki for the lead.

LAP 25: #19 Payne finally made his appearance in the pits for two fresh Dunlops, and slotted into third, close to #26 Allen. The Penrite team asked whether all of Payne’s tyres were secured. Ultimately, the left-rear tyre departed the car at turn 9. The second tour to the pits flushed the Kiwi to the tail of the field.

LAP 28: #6 Waters slipped past #31 Ojeda for seventh.

LAP 33: #18 De Pasquale was monstered by #6 Waters, but the Chevrolet clung on to sixth.

LAP 35: #777 Fraser spun after an unsuccessful move on #1 Mostert in the infield.

FINISH: #26 Allen pushed to the chequered flag, but #17 Kostecki held on by 0.598s.

They said it…

“Yeah, there’s some ****heads out there.”
– Race engineer to André Heimgartner after the BJR driver became a punching bag on lap 2.

“There are a couple of young guys out there that don’t know how to overtake. I got punted out of the way by Rylan (Gray) and Zach (Bates), and at the hairpin, I don’t know, I got absolutely smashed into, and it bent the steering. Pretty disappointing.”
– Cameron Hill, after his rotten weekend, continued following damage.

“Awesome job, awesome job mate, P1 from pole.”
“Yes, well done everyone, reset, let’s go again for the next one.”
– George Commins and Brodie Kostecki on the cooldown lap.

RESULTS: Race 11, 2026 ITM Christchurch Super 440

PosNo.DriverTeamCarMargin117Brodie KosteckiDJRFord37 laps226Kai AllenGroveFord+0.5980s32Ryan WoodWalkinshawToyota+8.6113s4888Will BrownTriple EightFord+9.0022s588Broc FeeneyTriple EightFord+10.1591s618Anton De PasqualeTeam 18Chevrolet+18.7212s76Cam WatersTickfordFord+20.4267s831Jayden OjedaPremiAirChevrolet+21.0234s93Aaron CameronBRTFord+22.1782s1010Zach Bates*MSRChevrolet+23.0178s1138Rylan GrayDJRFord+27.0292s124Jack Le BrocqMSRChevrolet+29.7732s131Chaz MostertWalkinshawToyota+37.1639s1455Thomas RandleTickfordFord+37.9670s157James GoldingBRTFord+38.6081s1699Cooper MurrayErebusChevrolet+39.3197s179Jobe StewartErebusChevrolet+43.9019s1896Macauley JonesBJRToyota+44.5777s1919Matt PayneGroveFord+45.1433s20777Declan FraserPremiAirChevrolet+48.4763s2120David ReynoldsTeam 18Chevrolet+51.7340s2211Jackson WallsTriple EightFord+57.1653s238André HeimgartnerBJRToyota+6 laps2414Cameron HillBJRToyota+7 laps

*NOTE: A 15-second post-race penalty demoted Bates to 14th, behind Gray, Le Brocq, Mostert and Randle.

Up close with the ex-Mike Imrie Group C Ford Falcon XD

It was a crowd favourite from the 2025 Winton Festival of Speed – Ian Ross’s XD Falcon, which has a very interesting back-story. A crashed taxi from Paul Stoddart’s wrecking yard, the car was campaigned in period by Mike Imrie.