Round 6 – Supercars Championship
TOWNSVILLE, Queensland – Round 6 of the 2024 Supercars Championship in Townsville marked a challenging race weekend for Red Bull Ampol Racing’s Will Brown, with the series completing the halfway mark on the streets in the Top End.
Carrying over the momentum from the season so far, Brown and the team were fighting for one lap pace throughout the weekend, with two qualifying results outside the top ten meaning that a duo of comeback drives would be required.
With championships won on the difficult days, Brown pieced together a brilliant performance in the first 88-lap encounter on Saturday, with the series leader climbing a staggering ten positions throughout the race to continue his podium streak with third place.
Despite a host of changes overnight, the one-lap pace would still elude the #87, with the Queenslander poised to begin Race 14 from P17. Always up for the challenge, Brown strapped into his Red Bull Ampol Racing Chevrolet Camaro LZ1 and was ready for work.
As is sometimes the story of the midfield, congestion after turn two sent Brown into the wall after heavy contact with another car, sending the #87 into pitlane for repairs on the opening lap, and spelling an end to the opportunity at a strong result.
Despite the challenge, Brown soldiered on, circulating to gain whatever points he could, eventually crossing the finish line in 24th position.
Brown remains atop the series standings with 1515 points, as the championship experiences a quick turnaround heading to Sydney on July 19, where Round 7 at the Sydney Supernight will present a fresh opportunity for drivers.
“The whole Sunday was pretty terrible, to be honest,” commented Brown. “Qualifying was really hard, and we just didn’t seem to have the qualifying pace this weekend but I think our race pace was pretty good. It was disappointing to qualify 17th, that was by far the least competitive we’ve been all year. In the race, I had an incident on the first lap which was my own fault. I didn’t realise (David) Reynolds was there because I was focussing on (Mark) Winterbottom and making sure I kept a distance from him. I didn’t realise we were three-wide and just moved across a little bit too far which was completely my fault. Overall, it was an up-and-down weekend. Our race pace was good but obviously, in qualifying we have a lot of work to do. We’ve been fast everywhere else in qualifying but just really struggled here. It’s only a week and a half until Sydney, so we have to focus on that now.”