25 best Supercars drivers since 2000: #13 Will Brown
As 2025 gets underway, Supercars.com is ranking the top 25 drivers of the last 25 years, continuing with Will Brown, who comes in as our #13.
Used car salesman, pilot, and Supercars champion. It's some story, and he's some driver.
A larrikin Queenslander, Will Brown scaled Supercars’ summit in 2024 with one of the most championship wins in recent memory. With 19 podiums in 24 starts, all in his first season with Triple Eight Race Engineering, Brown was brilliant.
A champion in Toyota 86 and Formula 4 in 2016, Brown set off after Supercars, and landed a co-drive with Erebus Motorsport in 2018. He remained with the team until 2023, winning his first race in 2021 and leading the championship midway through 2023.
So often we see drivers winning race after race to take out championships. Brown faced steep competition in 2024, but only won five races, three of them in the first 18 starts of the year. That tells you he had a big hill to climb, yet he had an answer to every problem.
Supercars.com uncovered a statistic that went everywhere, and one that summed up Brown’s year — he became the first driver since Dick Johnson in 1984 to claim a podium at every single round. Think of all the names that couldn’t pull that off, and that’s reason alone to celebrate this kid from Toowoomba.
Will Brown's key stats since 2000
Years active: 2018-present
Rounds: 56
Races: 126
Best championship position: 1st (2024)
Best finish: 1st (10 wins)
Top three finishes: 32
Best start: 1st (7 pole positions)
Best Bathurst result: 3rd (2024)
The highlight
Brown’s very first win, at age 23 against the might of Shane van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup in Sydney, came under immense pressure. As van Gisbergen and Whincup battled, Brown fell into their clutches, but hung on by 0.3s. On that day, he led from the front.
His finest hour (so far) is surely his final charge in 2024, a stunning victory in Adelaide after being turned around by former teammate Brodie Kostecki. On lap 9 of 78, Brown watched the field drive on by, and he looked set to end his title campaign with a whimper.
There would be nothing of the sort, Brown carving through the field one by one to sit third in the closing laps. As teammate Broc Feeney sent leader Chaz Mostert into a spin, Brown was in the box seat to pull off the most unlikely victory, and one that was just reward for a memorable season.
Why we picked him
A relaxed jokester off the track, Brown is ruthless on it. There were countless moments in 2024 where there was so much on the line, yet he was willing to get his elbows out and deliver a result that killed any hopes his title rivals had.
Of the 25 championships won this century, Brown’s 2024 victory is one of the absolute best. Brown won three of the first eight races, but went winless in the next 10. In that span, five other drivers won races.
Did that irk Brown? Sure, he openly said he was sick of finishing second. However, he was finishing second, third at worst. It was those performances that ensured Brown got the chocolates come Adelaide.
In years to come, Brown’s title will prove pivotal to the fabric of touring car racing in Australia, given he good he really was, all at age 26.
The views in this article do not necessarily express the opinions of Supercars, teams or drivers.
