Brodie Kostecki targets Jason Richards trophy in Taupo Supercars round

Brodie Kostecki is now the fourth different driver to lead the 2026 series. Photo / Edge Photographics

Supercars’ driver Brodie Kostecki arrived in New Zealand for the country’s first double header on a bit of a roll. The Australian dominated the most recent round at Melbourne, winning three of the four races to now lead the championship.

Kostecki is now the fourth different driver to lead the 2026 series with 485 points from Cam Waters (457), Broc Feeney (442), Matthew Payne (412) and Anton De Pasquale (354). While Payne is the best-placed Kiwi, the other two in the field, Ryan Wood and Andre Heimgartner, sit seventh and 15th respectively.

While Kostecki is obviously happy with his most recent form, he’s by no means looking at it as a given that he’s in contention for his second championship title.

“It’s always great to be leading the championship and we just have to be executing every time we go racing and the rest will take care of itself,” he told the Weekend Herald.

“It definitely helps with a bit of momentum going into the New Zealand double header, but it’s so early in the year to even talk about championship.

“It’s definitely exciting times for everyone in the team, I think it’s the first time they’ve led the championship in probably four years or so.

“But there’s still plenty of work to be done. You’re always trying to better yourself and there’s a lot of things we can do better as well.

“I think we’re on for a better start this year, which is great and shows that things are really developing and the team is starting to build well. So we’re just going to continue with that and keep moving forward every time we hit the track.”

It’s the first time there has been a double header in New Zealand. The Taupō track is familiar to the majority of the drivers in the field while Ruapuna will be new to the Australian racers.

The three Kiwis in the field may hold a bit of an advantage when the teams arrive in Christchurch as they’ve all cut their teeth on that particular track.

It probably won’t play on the minds of the drivers as they thunder around Taupō this weekend, but there might be a few team principals who will be holding their breath hoping their drivers don’t get caught up in a big crash. There’s not a lot of time for a big repair between race weekends.

“The turnaround time is pretty tight as the race weekends are back-to-back. We’ve got a great team so if something does happen [Taupō] we’ll get it fixed in time [for Ruapuna].

“That’s the last thing we’re worried about and we’ll be taking each day as it comes and the plan is to win a bunch of races and not worry about anything else.

“I love coming to New Zealand and the racing is great. Taupō we know and I don’t think the Kiwi drivers will have an advantage at Ruapuna. It’s quite a small and tight track for us and has a slow average speed.

“The best part is getting to race two weekends in a row because as drivers, that’s what you want to do. It’s like a dream come true and we’re all pretty excited about it,” Kostecki said.

Teams and drivers will be competing for one of the most prestigious championship trophies over the two weekends, the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy. It honours Richards, who was one of the most loved drivers in the series, who died of cancer in 2011.

The trophy currently sits with Payne, and he, Wood and Heimgartner will be desperate for it to remain in Kiwi hands this year. Kostecki, though, has a different idea and will be gunning to head back to Australia clutching the much sought-after piece of silverware.

“I’d say he [Richards] was a great driver and a great human being and I think all the drivers admired him and would want to get their hands on that trophy,” Kostecki said.

“I’ll be doing my best, as will everyone at Shell V Power Racing, to get it back into the fold [Scott McLaughlin 2018 and Anton De Pasquale 2024].”