Photos: EDGE Photographics The Repco Supercars Championship will 2023 season is well and truly heating up, with this weekend’s highly anticipated Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500.
Teams will return to the grid for the first time since Shane van Gisbergen and Richie Stanaway etched their names in the history books at the Repco Bathurst 1000, setting up an intriguing end to the season.
With the 1000-kilometre affair now in the rear-view mirrors, competitors will gear up for two 250-kilometre races, taking place across Saturday and Sunday.
The challenging street circuit has provided plenty of action and controversy in the past, and 2023 looks like delivering more of the same excitement.
All the action will kick off on Friday with two practice sessions, before an action-packed Saturday sees qualifying take place at 12:35pm AEDT (11.35am Queensland time), followed closely by the Top 10 Shootout at 2:05pm AEDT before lights out for Race 25 at 4:45pm AEDT.
Sunday’s action will see a near identical format, with the qualifying action kicking off at a slightly earlier timeslot of 11:05am AEDT before Race 26 concludes the round at 3:15pm AEDT.
Coca-Cola Racing by Erebus driver, Brodie Kostecki will enter the weekend with the championship lead, but is by no means sitting comfortably with Red Bull Ampol Racing’s van Gisbergen on his tail.
van Gisbergen, the current titleholder, has secured triumph in the most recent three races held on the Sunshine Coast, including a victory alongside Garth Tander during the 2019 600-kilometre event and two individual wins in the inaugural year of the updated format in 2022.
Kostecki’s Erebus teammate Will Brown remains in the Championship hunt, sitting only marginally behind the leading duo and has shown serious strength in shorter-distance races this season.
The same could be said for young Broc Feeney in the other Triple Eight Race Engineering Red Bull, who will be back for vengeance after a heartbreaking DNF at Mount Panorama earlier this month, however his Championship hope will rely on the leading trio having a difficult weekend for him to be considered a chance.
Completing the weekends schedule will be three exciting national support categories, including Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Championship, Haltech SuperUte Series and Precision National Sports Sedans Series.
Both Carrera Cup and Sports Sedans will see three races each, while SuperUtes will feature on four occasions.
The penultimate round of Repco Supercars Championship will be the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 and it will take place this weekend on 27-29 October.
Schedule
*All times local Queensland times (AEST) – add one hour for AEDT.
Friday
11:35am – 12:05pm: Practice 1
3:30pm – 4:00pm: Practice 2
Saturday
11:35am – 11:50am: Qualifying (Race 25)
1:05pm – 1:35pm: Top 10 Shootout (Race 25)
3:45pm: Race 25
Sunday
10:05am – 10:20am: Qualifying (Race 26)
11:35am – 12:05pm: Top 10 Shootout (Race 26)
2:15pm: Race 26
Championship Top 10
1. Brodie Kostecki – 2447 points
2. Shane van Gisbergen – 2316
3. Will Brown – 2057
4. Broc Feeney – 2039
5. Chaz Mostert – 1900
6. Andre Heimgartner – 1680
7. Anton De Pasquale – 1572
8. Jack Le Brocq – 1553
9. Cam Waters – 1550
10. Bryce Fullwood – 1506
Entry List
Walkinshaw Andretti United
#2 Ford Mustang GT – Nick Percat
#25 Ford Mustang GT – Chaz Mostert
Tim Blanchard Racing
#3 Ford Mustang GT – Todd Hazelwood
Brad Jones Racing
#4 Chevrolet Camaro – Jack Smith
#8 Chevrolet Camaro – Andre Heimgartner
#14 Chevrolet Camaro – Bryce Fullwood
#96 Chevrolet Camaro – Macauley Jones
Tickford Racing
#5 Ford Mustang GT – James Courtney
#50 Ford Mustang GT – Cameron Waters
#55 Ford Mustang GT – Thomas Randle
#56 Ford Mustang GT – Declan Fraser
Grove Racing
#19 Ford Mustang GT – Matthew Payne
#26 Ford Mustang GT – David Reynolds
Erebus Motorsport
#9 Chevrolet Camaro – Will Brown
#99 Chevrolet Camaro – Brodie Kostecki
Dick Johnson Racing
#11 Ford Mustang GT – Anton De Pasquale
#17 Ford Mustang GT – Will Davison
Team 18
#18 Chevrolet Camaro – Mark Winterbottom
#20 Chevrolet Camaro – Scott Pye
PremiAir Racing
#23 Chevrolet Camaro – Tim Slade
#31 Chevrolet Camaro – James Golding
Matt Stone Racing
#34 Chevrolet Camaro – Jack Le Brocq
#35 Chevrolet Camaro – Cameron Hill
Triple Eight Race Engineering
#88 Chevrolet Camaro – Broc Feeney
#97 Chevrolet Camaro – Shane van Gisbergen
Keyword: Intense Supercar title fight continues on Sunshine Coast