Will Brown Ford parked up with suspected transaxle issue
2024 Supercars champion consigned to garage for final practice
Brown moved into spare Triple Eight chassis for Ipswich
Will Brown’s hopes of a strong start in Ipswich have been curtailed by suspected gearbox issues.
The 2024 Supercars champion arrived at Queensland Raceway on the back of a turbulent fortnight.
Triple Eight moved Brown into a spare chassis, before an undersized restrictor was discovered on the engine.
It was a bitter blow for Brown, who failed to qualify in the top 10 for any of the six races across the Townsville and Perth rounds, and was consigned to seventh in points.
After placing sixth in Practice 1, Brown didn't turn a competitive lap in Practice 2, robbing the Red Bull Ampol Racing star of crucial track time.
It means Brown will go into Saturday qualifying with just 14 laps to his name.
Speaking on the broadcast, the Queenslander had regained his trademark wit, but suggested a transaxle problem was to blame for his untimely early mark.
“It feels like it’s done a gearbox, or something internal,” Brown said.
“I gave some explicit sense to what I think is wrong with it, and I think that’s what’s wrong with it.
“When we went out at the start of this run, I did a down change and it did a really bad noise.
“They wanted to do a change in the front, but when we went back out, it was making a really harsh knocking noise. It’s like someone was under there with a hammer."
Supercars return to the track for back-to-back Boost Mobile Qualifying sessions from 10:00am local time on Saturday. Tickets for the Century Batteries Ipswich Super 440 are on sale now.
