Scott Pye confident he can cause a stir in 2026 enduros
Pye returns alongside Will Brown for third consecutive season
Brown/Pye won 2024 Sandown 500, third at Bathurst
Scott Pye is confident he can step into the hot seat and deliver performances required to again stand out amongst a decorated Supercars co-driver crowd.
Pye returns for a third season alongside Will Brown with Red Bull Ampol Racing.
The Brown/Pye pairing delivered a Sandown 500 victory straight out of the gate in 2024, and after a practice crash for Pye, claimed a Bathurst 1000 podium a few weeks later. No combination scored more points across the two races than Brown/Pye.
Repeated qualifying misses for Brown buried Pye down the order for both 2025 enduros, but the veteran pulled up his sleeves and delivered some of the strongest performances of the co-driver crop.
Brown/Pye launched from 16th to fourth at The Bend. At Mount Panorama, Pye scythed through the field, notably pulling off overtake after overtake into Murray’s Corner.
The South Australian hasn’t raced competitively all year, but after a strong test day in Brown’s #888 Mustang, believes he is well placed to deliver more big moves if required.
“I do feel confident I can do that. That's my job,” Pye told Supercars.com, when asked if he can repeat his 2025 performances.
“With my experience, the expectation put on me is to do that.
“The thing is, there's obviously more risk when you're in those situations starting from the back. I think I passed 16 cars last year across the two races, which was the most of anyone.
“But that also means we obviously didn't qualify where we'd like to, so ideally this year we'd start further towards the front.”
Starting 12th, Brown and Pye surged to second behind the sister Broc Feeney/Jamie Whincup car in Bathurst before the rain arrived. The race then unravelled.
“I got us through to second when I got out of the car,” said Pye, who co-hosts the Apex Hunters United podcast, and is set to become a father for the first time in November.
“I think if it stayed dry, we were by far quickest on track. I feel like Bathurst last year was one that got away from us, but the weather and the race itself unfolded the way it did.
“There are no guarantees, and that's what makes that place so amazing.”
A big two days in the car at Queensland Raceway helped Pye find his feet, having been trackside for the balance of the year watching Brown.
That was enough to convince Pye, who has 344 Supercars starts to his name, to feel comfortable in the Ford — a brand he hasn’t represented in Supercars since his final year with DJR Team Penske in 2016.
“I feel great. I definitely don’t feel rusty at all. I’m still very fit, I’m still quite young, so I feel like I've got plenty of years ahead of me," said Pye, a three-time Great Race podium finisher.
“Obviously the test days are important, but even the ride days, the amount of laps you do… it’s my third year, so it feels like my car now.
“I actually feel really relaxed about it. That was my best test day that I've had in the car. We don't get to see who's fast on the test day because no one has any tyres, so fans will never know who's fast and who's not after those test days.
“But internally, we know how we went, and for me personally, that was my favourite moment in a car on a test day.
“This year we feel much more confident in the package. I mean, you can't feel much better for Will coming off of a pole position and three podiums going in.
“But again, there's no guarantee on future success based on the past. We just need to rock up to The Bend and try our hardest, having worked hard in the lead up, and leave no stone unturned.”
Pye will hit the track in Brown's #888 Mustang at The Bend from Friday September 11.
