Brown's 'pinch-myself' moment on first Triple Eight day

Trying on his first Red Bull Ampol suit and seeing his name on his new Camaro were big parts of a “surreal” first day for Triple Eight recruit Will Brown.

Brown joined new teammate Broc Feeney at the powerhouse team’s Banyo base for the first time on Monday.

In a major silly season move, the Queenslander was announced as Shane van Gisbergen’s replacement back in August.

Five months on, Brown is now a Triple Eight driver, setting the scene for a big 2024 after his departure from Erebus Motorsport.

Decked out in new Red Bull cap and all, there were two standout moments that hit home for the 25-year-old on day one.

“It was surreal and exciting to get down to the workshop and get involved with it all,” Brown told Supercars.com.

“Red Bull are really good to their athletes. Getting to not only race for Red Bull Ampol Racing, but make me an ambassador for the brand is awesome.”

With a combined age of 46, Brown and Feeney form the youngest line-up on the 2024 grid.

However, both are proven winners, and battled for the title before the championship fight was ultimately fought by respective teammates van Gisbergen and Brodie Kostecki.

Brown not only arrives with new personnel in his corner, but a new car, with Triple Eight building new Gen3 Chevrolet Camaros for their drivers — something that wasn’t lost on Brown himself.

When asked about Triple Eight building new cars for 2024, Brown said: “Generally, they usually start the year with new cars to start fresh, and they’ve taken that approach into the new season.

“There’s always more to learn, last year was a learning year for everyone with the new cars.

“I’ve only done a day in there, but everyone’s keen to get into it.”

Brown and Feeney will test their new cars on Monday February 5 ahead of the season-opening Thrifty Bathurst 500 on February 23-25.