Brown 'lucky to finish' after Darwin restart carnage

Will Brown believes he was “lucky to finish” Saturday’s first race in Darwin, which was headlined by a dramatic Safety Car restart incident.

Brown started Saturday 72 points behind teammate Broc Feeney, and ended it 143 behind after Feeney ran away with both wins.

The deficit could have been even bigger had Brown been wiped out in the opening stages of Race 17, amid a chaotic Safety Car restart.

Jack Le Brocq crashed out after Ryan Wood suffered an engine failure, which caused a concertina at over 200km/h.

Cameron Hill swerved and hit Le Brocq, with Brown picking up front end damage after spearing into Hill's Camaro. Speaking after Saturday’s second race, Brown said his car picked up more damage than expected.

“That restart was pretty hectic, that’s for sure,” Brown said of the first race.

“It’s always crazy up here, you’re trying to stay out of the carnage.

“I pulled right thinking I’d be out of it, but Cam Hill — it wasn’t his fault — he obviously saw the carnage and pulled right as well, and we clipped.

“My tyre was actually off the bead by about this far, but held pressure for the whole race. There was a fair bit of damage there, and I was lucky to finish.”

Feeney now has seven wins to Brown’s one, and is a clear favourite for the Repco Sprint Cup.

When asked if he’s worried about Feeney’s brilliant Sprint Cup form, Brown replied: “Not worried about that at all, to be honest, Broc’s doing a fantastic job.

“The Sprint Cup, you always you want to win it, but it’s obviously the championship at the end of the year.

"We’re building to make sure we’re in that top four for the end of the year to try and take out the championship."