Brown laments 'silly' qualifying crash
Brown/Perkins to start 17th after Friday qualifying crash
#9 Coca-Cola Camaro crashed at Griffins Bend early in qualifying
Erebus repaired car, but Brown couldn't secure a Shootout berth
Will Brown has taken full responsibility for his early crash in ARMOR ALL Qualifying at the Repco Bathurst 1000, which ultimately consigned the Erebus Motorsport driver to 17th.
Brown and Jack Perkins will launch from the ninth row for Sunday’s Great Race after the former crashed at Griffins Bend on his first push lap.
The Queenslander triggered the first of two stoppages, and returned his damaged #9 Coca-Cola Camaro to the garage.
Erebus mechanics frantically repaired the car and sent Brown back out as the 25-year-old attempted to secure a Shootout berth.
Try as he might, Brown ended up 17th as he battled a loose car carrying battle scars.
“Just a balls-up really, to be honest,” Brown said.
“Just locked a front, I was running second [gear] in practice, and I thought third would be a bit faster in qualy.
“I went in a bit hot and thought, ‘Shit, I’m not going to pull it up’.
"I did the stupid thing of jumping on the brake more, locked it up and went straight ahead. Completely my fault, really sorry to the team, because they did a mega effort. They even got me out there.
"I think the splitter was up a little bit, or something. I was alright until I got under the tree and into the high-speed stuff, then I’d lose heaps of time.
“Unfortunately didn’t make the 10, but it is a really long day on Sunday, so I’m sure we’ll claw our way back up there.”
Brown’s words may ring true, given he and Perkins recovered to 10th in last year’s race after the car dropped a lap due to an incident on Mountain Straight on lap 1.
For the 2021 provisional pole man, however, the incident was a body blow to his title aspirations as teammate Brodie Kostecki powered to provisional pole position.
Heading to the Repco Bathurst 1000, Kostecki is 294 points ahead of Brown.
“It’s qualifying, you generally try everything on the first flyer,” the Toowoomba-born driver continued.
“Like I said, just a silly mistake, and I paid the consequences. Disappointed not to make the Shootout, we were able to make it last year and the year before.
“We’ll sit this one out, and hopefully we have a good race."
