Brown: Title hopes still alive despite Bend setback

Will Brown is eyeing the enduros to remain in championship contention after suffering a shocker at the OTR SuperSprint.

Brown entered the weekend 41 points down on Erebus Motorsport teammate Brodie Kostecki, with Shane van Gisbergen and Broc Feeney just behind.

Kostecki dominated, winning all three races and scoring 305 points. Brown, meanwhile, was taken out of the first race before he finished 13th twice.

In one weekend, Brown dropped 217 points to his teammate, and dropped behind van Gisbergen and Feeney, who also failed to score trophies.

It came just days after Brown was in the headlines amid his move to Triple Eight from 2024, replacing van Gisbergen.

”Obviously it’s been a big week in the media, it’s really disappointing, I’ve never been this far off my teammate before,” Brown said on the broadcast.

"I was coming in quite confident, I like the place, I’ve done a lot of racing here, I thought we’d be really good.

"The last race was really disappointing, it was completely my fault, I completely ballsed-up by myself. But the rest of the weekend, I was way off."

While he was an innocent bystander in the first race incident, Brown struggled in qualifying — starting eighth, 16th and 13th — and also ran off on his own in the finale.

When asked if the week’s events had been a distraction, Brown admitted he expected more from his weekend given he had his future sorted.

"I thought I came into this week in a better headspace,” he said.

"I knew where I was heading next year, I was excited for the future, and to finish off strong with these guys, and to win the teams’ championship and the drivers’ championship for them.

"Obviously this weekend has hurt that, it’s a tough pill to swallow.”

'I’ve never been this far off my teammate before'

Brown heads into the first enduro of the year, the Penrite Oil Sandown 500, 258 points behind Kostecki.

Two of the final four rounds are single 300-point races, and Brown knows the championship can still swing back to his favour.

"Really looking forward to the enduros,” he said.

“Once Bathurst comes around, and you run and hopefully won Bathurst, after that, if you’re top three in the championship, you’ve got a chance to win the championship.

"I don’t think this weekend has taken us out of contention for the championship, I still think there’s a long road ahead.

"If you DNF Bathurst, you’re out of contention pretty quick. I’m still confident, but I want to put this weekend behind me."

Brown will share his #9 Coca-Cola Camaro with Jack Perkins at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 on September 15-17, and the Repco Bathurst 1000 on October 5-8.