The driver nicknamed “Bush” backed up from his stunning qualifying performance on Friday to produce a blistering 2:04.271 lap to smoke his rivals in a one-lap blitz sound Australia’s most famous circuit.

Kostecki’s time was 0.483sec faster than Triple Eight young gun Broc Feeney and came despite a mistake at the start of his lap when he ran wide at the exit of turn one.

It was Kostecki’s first Bathurst pole position and his seventh pole for the year as he steps up his bid for a Bathurst 1000 and championship double.

Sandown 500 winner Feeney will start on the front row alongside Kostecki on Sunday, while Tickford Racing’s Cam Waters in his Mustang and PremiAir Racing’s James Golding will start third and fourth on the grid.

Dick Johnson Racing’s Anton De Pasquale and defending Bathurst 1000 champion Shane van Gisbergen finished fifth and sixth in the shootout.

Kostecki holds a 155-point lead in the Supercars’ drivers’ championship over Triple Eight rival van Gisbergen.

The 25-year-old has been the dominant driver since hitting the track on Thursday, topping the field in two practice sessions as well as Friday qualifying.

The in-form driver of the series, Kostecki has won more races – six – than any other driver so far this year and was the hot favourite heading into the shootout.

Tickford Racing veteran Will Davison was the first driver out for the shootout, but messed up his lap before it had barely started when he ran wide at the exit of turn one and was unable to make up the lost time.

Dual Bathurst 1000 champion Chaz Mostert, a two-time pole sitter at Bathurst, was the next out and immediately lowered Davison’s time with a 2:05.830 lap.

Grove Racing’s 21-year-old rookie Matt Payne was the third driver out and shot to the top with an impressive 2:05.269 lap to lower Mostert’s time in his first time in the shootout.

But Payne’s time did not last long before two-time Bathurst 1000 champion van Gisbergen became the first driver under 2:05 with a 2:04.991 lap.

Bathurst winner David Reynolds was next, but was unable to better van Gisbergen’s time as he completed his trip around the mountain in 2:05.151.

Feeney then upstaged his decorated teammate to shoot to the top with a 2:04.754 lap.

Two-time Bathurst pole sitter Cam Waters was next, but fell just 0.02sec short of Feeney’s benchmark with his 2:05.775 time.

The third-last driver out, De Pasquale was also unable to improve on Feeney’s time with a 2:04.915 lap.

PremiAir Racing’s James Golding had the penultimate lap around the mountain and put his car into third spot behind Feeney and Waters with his 2:04.815 time.

Then the spotlight was on Kostecki for his final lap and he didn’t disappoint as he blitzed his rivals to send his garage into raptures.

“I had a bit of a crappy start to the lap, the sun got in my eyes and the turn off was a bit dirty and so I made a mistake and I had to make up for it,” Kostecki said.

“That little mistake I thought was going to cost me, but the car was awesome across the top. I just threw it down the hill and I wasn’t actually sure if I was going to come out the other side.

“I was very happy to get through the Dipper there and I knew going down Conrod I was on a good lap, so I knew I just didn’t have to stuff it up.

“I had George (Commins, engineer) in my ear, even though he wasn’t saying anything, just in the back of my mind ‘Just finish it Bush’.

“I’m very proud of this whole team and really proud to be starting off the front row tomorrow.

“There were some guys putting out some really fast laps, but I knew I had the best track advantage with the heat and the shade coming in across the top.

“Still a lot of pressure going out last … I am just very proud of the whole Coca Cola Racing Team by Erebus , they have given me such a rocket ship.”

Kostecki’s pole-winning margin was the biggest at Bathurst since Kiwi Greg Murphy’s famous ‘Lap of the Gods’ in 2003.

Legendary inspiration behind Bathurst’s youngest challenger

As Dick Johnson Racing’s Kai Allen prepares for the biggest day of his life on Sunday he’s been given plenty of inspiration to do well from his hero and former Bathurst 1000 winner Scott McLaughlin.

In a situation most motorsport racers dream of the South Australian teenager, at 18, is making his debut at The Great Race and is the youngest to compete at Mount Panorama this year.

A budding star of the future, Allen has been given the opportunity after impressing in Super 2 and Super 3 in recent years and winning two national titles in karting as a junior.

He is competing with international driver Simona de Silvestro in the standout yellow wildcard car with the oldest and most famous team in Supercars on the grid.

“I’ve been dreaming of this since a young kid, so to be finally at Bathurst with such a historic team it’s pretty cool to get on the grid,” he told this masthead.

“I’m pumped for tomorrow (Sunday), it’s a 1000km long race and Simona and I are hoping to do our best.”

And cheering him on will be former DJR driver and three-time Supercars champion McLaughlin, who is now racing in IndyCar for Penske Motorsport.

Allen said the New Zealander had been a great help already this weekend.

And he’ll be giving the new DJR young gun one final pep talk ahead of tackling the Mountain.

“Scott McLaughlin is probably my biggest inspiration, he’s such a good guy and even being part of the team that he used to race for is pretty cool.

“He gave me a call the other day to wish me all the best, which was unreal.

“He was really good, said ‘do your thing mate, go and have fun.’

“I’ll chat to him (again) tonight (Saturday) before the big event tomorrow.”

He also has seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner Craig Lowndes near him with the DJR wildcard sharing a pit boom with Lowndes’ wildcard team – SuperCheap Auto Racing.

It’s been a busy weekend for the teenager who is on double-duty, racing in Super 2 as well.

He’s competing with Eggleston Motorsport as he fights for the championship in the feeder category against fellow Bathurst 1000 competitor Zak Best.

But it has not worried the teenager, showing he’s a future star of the sport by also qualifying the DJR wildcard in 25th of the Bathurst 1000, showing he can handle the pressure.

The team is hoping to get a good result in the Bathurst 1000.

“Simona has been great, working really well together and making sure we tick every box and everything can run smoothly,” he said.

“It’s cool to get Simona back and she and I just want to keep the car clean, make sure we have a good race and no silly mistakes from our behalf and we run smoothly.

“If we do that we’ll hopefully get a good result.”

The Great Race starts at 11.15am on Sunday.

Originally published as Bathurst 1000: Brodie Kostecki claims pole ahead of Broc Feeney for Bathurst