Brown 'just didn't put it together' in qualifying

Will Brown is hopeful of moving forward in Saturday’s NTI Townsville 500 opener after feeling "a bit unsure” in Boost Mobile Qualifying.

The championship leader failed to qualify in the top 10 for the first time in 2024, with Brown only 13th at Reid Park on Saturday morning.

Brown, who arrived with a 108-point lead over teammate Broc Feeney, hadn’t qualified lower than ninth all season, and had an average grid spot of 4.0 — the best of all drivers.

Come Saturday, and the Triple Eight star was frank in his assessment, saying: "Yeah, I just didn't have it.

"I just felt a bit unsure in the car. Got a bit of front locking, but looking out there, everyone's probably got quite similar stuff.

“So, we just didn't put it together, but it's gonna be a long day. But luckily it's a fuel race, you know, there's two stops this arvo. Maybe some people will even do three out there.

“I don't really know just yet, but it'll be a long arvo. Hopefully we can claw our way back up there.”

The lowest grid position to win in Townsville is 12th, which was achieved in 2020 by Shane van Gisbergen — the driver Brown replaced at Triple Eight.

Brown was happy with his race pace early on Friday, but said it drifted in the afternoon en route to 12th overall.

The Queenslander is hoping Triple Eight plays to its tyre life strengths come the 250km, 88-lap race, which will start at 2:40pm AEST.

"We were really good in Practice 1 in race trim. We struggled a little bit in Practice 2, but generally we have fairly good tyre life,” he said.

"So, I hope I can bank on previous experiences in this car. But, if we have good tyre life, it should be an alright afternoon."