Future teammates set for 2023 bragging rights fight

Will Brown and Broc Feeney have one more battle on their hands before they link up at Triple Eight in 2023, with the two young drivers fighting for third in the championship.

Heading to the VAILO Adelaide 500, Erebus Motorsport driver Brown is just nine points ahead of Feeney, who won last year’s event in South Australia.

Their respective teammates, Brodie Kostecki and Shane van Gisbergen, will fight it out for the biggest prize at the November 23-26 event.

Kostecki has led for the balance of the season, and will carry a 131-points over van Gisbergen to Adelaide.

If Kostecki outscores van Gisbergen by 20 points in the Saturday race, the title is off to Erebus. Brown and Feeney will still play a key role in where both championships end up, with Erebus leading Triple Eight by 170 points.

However, Brown’s impending move to Triple Eight casts a footnote on this year’s title fight, although the Queenslander — who led the points in Townsville — has battled for results of late.

Brown has missed the podium in his last eight races, and finished 11th in both Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 races. However, he did show impressive pace despite recent back surgery, car issues on Saturday and a Sunday Shootout crash.

Feeney, the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 winner, finished 14th and eighth last weekend after battling with one-lap pace. He was third after Sandown, but a late mechanical issue not only stung Feeney's title hopes, but also hurt Triple Eight's teams' championship defence.

While all eyes will be on the Kostecki/van Gisbergen battle, Brown and Feeney still have a fight of their own to win, with Feeney keen to finish off strongly.

"It wasn’t a great weekend – I’m certainly not stoked with it, but we walked away with some points and a clean car,” Feeney said. 

"I can’t wait to get back to Adelaide – I love that place. We’ve got four weeks between now and then. 

"I’m pretty keen to recharge and bounce back pretty strong. It’s been a disappointing weekend and I’m not super proud of how we went.”

Kostecki leads van Gisbergen by 131 points heading to Adelaide, with Brown and Feeney 495 and 504 points behind respectively.