Will Brown clashed with Rylan Gray in Perth finale
Brown and Gray collided into Turn 6 on opening lap
Brown qualified 19th, came home 17th
Will Brown had “insufficient overlap” with Rylan Gray in the incident that attracted a penalty, according to Motorsport Australia stewards.
Starting 19th, Brown clashed with Dick Johnson Racing rookie Gray in Sunday’s Bosch Power Tools Perth Super 440 finale.
Brown got down the inside of Gray into Turn 6 on lap 1, but contact sent Gray into the sandtrap, and out of contention. Gray was later forced into the garage.
The #888 Red Bull Ampol Ford driver was handed a 15-second penalty for his troubles, denying Brown a shot at climbing through the field. It was Brown's third 15-second penalty of the season, after incidents in Sydney and Melbourne.
Per the Motorsport Australia stewards report, Brown didn’t have a enough overlap to “be entitled to be given racing room” by Gray.
The report reads: “When attempting an overtake, Car 888 made contact on Car 38 at Turn 6 on Lap 1, causing it to spin and leave the track.
“The Stewards determined that Car 888 had insufficient overlap with Car 38 to be entitled to be given racing room and that the Driver of Car 888 was wholly to blame for the collision.
“The Stewards imposed a 15 second time penalty on Car 888 to be served at its next pit stop, consistent with previous breaches of a similar nature.”
Brown crawled home 17th, nearly one lap down on winner Matt Payne, who beat Brown’s teammate Broc Feeney in a thrilling battle. It ensures Brown, who still sits comfortably inside the top 10, heads to Ipswich on a one-year winless streak.
"We've got a lot of work to do before Queensland Raceway,” said Brown, whose last win came in Ipswich last August.
“Don't feel like we were there this weekend on straight line speed, or setup, or you know I felt like I was not maximising it at all on any occasion as well."
"So we've got work to do, we've got to regroup heading to Ipswich which has been a happy hunting ground for us.
“I’m just going to be in the workshop with the boys, working with the boys at this, learning and improving on what we've got and building to where we need to be."
"Queensland Raceway is the last round in the Sprint Cup so we need to be better going in to Enduros and the Finals, need the results to make sure we're in this thing and fighting where we have in the past and know where we should be. Lots of work to do."
Ipswich hosts the next round, the Repco Sprint Cup finale, on August 21-23.
