Brown penalised over Mostert qualifying clash

Will Brown has been hit with a three-place grid penalty over his Race 7 qualifying run-in with championship rival Chaz Mostert.

Brown and Mostert qualified 18th and 24th for Sunday’s MSS Security Melbourne SuperSprint finale, with Broc Feeney sweeping Saturday’s two sessions.

The reigning champion was unable to make an impression in the second session, having earlier qualified second behind teammate Feeney.

Brown opted for a second warm-up lap but was only good enough for 18th, 0.75s off Feeney’s pace, and rolled out of it as he returned to pit lane.

All the while, Mostert was last on track in a bid to lift himself off the bottom.

The Walkinshaw Andretti United driver ran wide at Turn 8 and had to push on his third lap. However, Mostert caught Brown at the back of the circuit, with the Red Bull Ampol Chevrolet cruising on the racing line.

Mostert nudged the back of the Triple Eight Race Engineering Camaro, and remonstrated behind the wheel as he settled for 24th and last on the grid.

Speaking after the session, Mostert admitted he "stuffed up” his first two laps, and while he didn’t apportion all blame to Brown, he claimed his rival had “no idea I was on a lap.”

Officials later deemed Brown at fault, hitting the reigning champion with a three-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race. Brown will now start from 21st, although it matters little to Mostert, who remains 24th.

Race 6 will commence on Saturday at 5:40pm local time.