Brown fires warning shot to rivals, doubles down on Mostert threat

Will Brown has warned his rivals that he can’t be counted out for the 2025 title, with the reigning champion identifying Ford rival Chaz Mostert as his biggest threat.

Twice in two days, Red Bull Ampol Racing star Brown charged through the field at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 to turn qualifying disaster into silverware.

The reigning champion entered the weekend below the cut-line, and was in deeper danger when he qualified 15th on Saturday. Brown then played the starring role in the race, vaulting to second and giving Ryan Wood food for thought along the way.

On Sunday, he floundered again in qualifying, ending up 17th. In trying conditions, he was in the hunt for the podium, and was elevated to third when Mostert spun off.

On average, Brown turns a 9.2 start into a 5.6 finish, gaining 3.6 positions per race. Brown has gained five or more positions in a race 13 times this season, and has gained 10 or more positions six times.

Speaking after Sunday’s race, the Queenslander said his latest fightback give him confidence heading to Adelaide, where he crowned his title with a last-to-fight miracle 12 months ago.

"To be honest, those races sort of felt like wins to us on our side of the garage, to drive up from where we were and have the pace we were,” Brown said.

“We'll take a lot of confidence going into Adelaide and I think at the end of the day, a lot of people can't count us out, no matter where we qualify right now.

“Qualifying 15th and 17th, if that was any other car this weekend, I think they may have struggled to actually get in the four."

Brown will race teammate Broc Feeney, Mostert and rookie Kai Allen for the championship, having watched Cam Waters, Matt Payne, Brodie Kostecki, Wood and Anton De Pasquale suffer elimination in the last two rounds.

A clash between Waters and Payne ruined both Ford drivers’ hopes, while Kostecki (crash), Wood (reliability) and De Pasquale (penalty) were all bumped out on the Gold Coast.

Brown himself tripped over Waters on Sunday, with the latter penalised. When asked if it was a relief that long-time rival Waters didn’t qualify for the Grand Final, Brown said: “It's always gonna be a relief.

"I think it's a relief that Ryan Wood's not in there, that Cam's not in there, Brodie Kostecki's not in there. They're all guys that would be very fast at Adelaide and still will be very fast at Adelaide. I’m sure Anton will be very fast as well.

"I think our biggest threat right now is obviously Chaz. Chaz was extremely fast there last year. He's always fast at Adelaide, so there's guys that you definitely want to get through.

"Kai could shock us, but probably for us we we're probably happy Kai got through.”

Track action at the bp Adelaide Grand Final commences on Thursday November 27. Tickets are on sale now.

Will Brown's race performance in 2025

Note: Brown qualified 18th for Race 7, which was abandoned due to poor weather.