Brodie Kostecki claimed his first victory of the year in Race 4 of the 2026 Supercars Championship in Melbourne.
Lights Out in Melbourne
It was Brodie Kostecki who held onto his pole position as the lights when out on Race 4. While James Golding, who qualified second, was quickly overtaken on the start. It was Kai Allen who was spun to the back of the field at Turn 3.
Matthew Payne got the best of Feeney for second place, overtaking his championship rival at Turn 14. Both drivers, who sit on equal points in the Repco Supercars Championship, were one second away from Kostecki. Blanchard Racing Team has shown their Sydney stint was no fluke, with Golding and Aaron Cameron managing to hold off Supercars Champions’ Chaz Mostert and Will Brown respectively.
With only 19 laps in Race 4, Kostecki looked to crawl back the points different between himself and the leaders. While on Lap 7, SCT rookie Jackson Walls beached his car on Turn 11, bringing out the first Safety Car of Race 4.
Safety Car Restart
With Race 4 neutralised, and the Melbourne SuperSprint on a tight time schedule, there was fear that Race 4 would be changed from a lapped race to a timed race. However, with 9 laps to go, the green flag were out in Race 4. Kostecki got away cleanly, while at Turn 3, it was Cameron who got turned around from 7th. The BRT youngster dropped to 23rd after Will Brown applied pressure from behind.
With the top four holding their own, it was Mostert and Waters in sixth and sixth who were making moves, challenging each other into Lap 11. With tyre temperatures rising and the laps slowly ticking down, it was Feeney who started to apply pressure to Payne. While further back in the field, Allen recovered from the back of the field to 14th, passing David Reynolds on Lap 14.
Racing Until the End
On Lap 14, rookie Zach Bates was seen with smoke coming out of his Matt Stone Racing Chevrolet after a lock up. While fellow rookie Jayden Ojeda, who failed to qualify after a shunt in Practice 2, was Supercars biggest mover, jumping up eight positions to sixteenth.
With illness still hammering Kostecki, Payne was behind applying pressure the whole way. It was last lap chaos as Ryan Wood managed to get the best of Brown. After pressure from the Triple Eight driver, Waters managed to hold onto sixth. While Allen continued to make moves, finding himself in 11th. After starting 16th before falling to the back of the field, the Penrite driver will secure valuable information heading into Race 5 and beyond.
Heading for the line, Brodie Kostecki claimed his first victory of the year in Race 4 of the 2026 Supercars Championship. Payne will take the Championship lead after holding off Feeney for second. While behind them, Golding holds off Mostert for fourth. It was another top four for the Ford Mustang, solidifying themselves as the top constructor in 2026.
Final Supercars Race 4 classification and results from Melbourne
- Kostecki
- Payne
- Feeney
- Golding
- Mostert
- Waters
- Wood
- Brown
- De Pasquale
- Murray
- Allen
- Randle
- Le Brocq
- Heimgartner
- Reynolds
- Ojeda
- Grey
- Hill
- Bates
- Stewart
- Jones
- Fraser
- Cameron
- Walls
The Repco Supercars Championship returns on Friday at 5:30pm AEDT for Race 5 of the Melbourne SuperSprint.
