Erebus Motorsport’s Brodie Kostecki has gone back-to-back in the Supercars Eseries with victory at Monza last night.

Teammate and Academy driver Jobe Stewart claimed his first top ten and the team’s best result in the Pro Series with 7th, while Jarrad Filsell managed P10 after a pit stop debacle.

PHILLIP ISLAND

Unbelievably tight margins in qualifying saw the Erebus teammates qualify just 0.03-seconds apart, Jarrad starting from P8 on the grid and Jobe in P10. 

Jarrad nailed the start and made some early moves, progressing three spots to 5th, while Jobe held onto his starting position until pitting on lap five. 

Jarrad decided to dive into pit lane at the end of lap six, though a glitch in the game saw the pro-gamer fall down the order. Instead of the fuel and tyre service working simultaneously, it was a split stop, costing the Boost Mobile Commodore 10-seconds and eight spots after the rejoin.

Jarrad was fast and fired up, catching the back of a large battle pack for 7th. Jobe on the other hand, was right amongst that same battle back, and was able to keep his nose clean and fight his way into his first top ten finish and cross the line in P9.

Jarrad was right on the back of the pack and tried to make up a few spots though with no time left in the race, crossed the finish line in P12.  Time penalties handed out for Fawzan El-Nabi and Cooper Webster elevated the Erebus duo a further two spots after the finish, Jobe now P7 and Jarrad P10.

Jobe was thrilled with the night’s results, saying: “It was great to qualify in the top 10 for the first time this series, I was really happy with that. I was feeling pretty comfortable in those last few laps but then the guys in front started battling and then the guys behind me caught up so I was sort of thinking “here we go again” but luckily nothing bad happened and I got through clean. The race was definitely a confidence booster, I wasn’t feeling super enthusiastic after the last few rounds but finishing P7 tonight has definitely helped with that. I definitely want to see some more good results in the future.”

Jarrad added: “The qualifying session didn’t really go to plan, one little mistake cost us a tenth so that put us a little bit further back than I would have liked but unfortunately after the glitch, it wouldn’t have really mattered where I qualified. On a positive note, our long run pace seemed a little bit better than the cars in front, good on the take off and we could build a gap. After the pitstop the car was really, really good in the last stint, which was a much longer one. We got up to the big pack but just couldn’t really do anything or pass once we got there because the tyres were too sore. Looking ahead I’m feeling good going into Bathurst next week, that’s going to be really cool. It’ll be cool to pair up with Brodie and go back to Bathurst. It’s always a mint track on iRacing.”

MONZA

Brodie raced pole position for the third time this series as the All Stars traded oval circuits for the ‘Temple of Speed’ at Monza.

At lights out, Brodie made a great start, maintaining his qualifying position and managing to build the lead out to 4-seconds before taking his compulsory stop at the end of the lap six. 

At lights out, Brodie made a great start and enjoyed a clear lead off the line into Turn 1, as behind him cars were sent spearing off. The #99 driver was unstoppable and built the lead out to 4-seconds before taking his compulsory pit stop at the end of lap six.

The mandatory safety car was deployed on the following lap to bunch the field up for a thrilling sprint to the finish. With four laps to the checkered flag, Brodie bolted on the restart with Matthew Payne close behind as he looked to take advantage of the slipstream.

Ultimately, Brodie was too quick and developed another gap before crossing the line in first, claiming his second career Eseries win in just as many races.

After the race, Brodie said: “It was good to move away from the ovals and finally turn right as well as left, that was quite enjoyable. Monza is a pretty cool track with some great history so all in all, it was good fun. It was great to go back-to-back and get my second win of the series. To maintain my championship position, I just need to stay consistent and out of trouble. Going into Bathurst with Jarrad is going to be pretty cool, we should have some good speed so hopefully we qualify well for that, stay up the front and try to get another win. I’m really excited to pair up with Jarrad, Jarrad and myself race quite a lot together on the sim. We can’t wait to pair up for Bathurst and really want to try and win that.”

Brodie has extended his points lead from 18 to 66 points in the process, with teammates Jarrad and Jobe sitting 4th and 14th respectively in the Pro Series. 

The Eseries will return for Round 5 next week, with the All Stars and the Pro Series grids set to combine for the Bathurst enduro.