Brown cops fresh championship hit with costly damage

Will Brown’s hopes of making a dent in the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy and championship battles have been undone by rear damage in Race 10.

Brown launched from fifth in the ITM Christchurch Super 440 opener, and seemingly emerged unscathed from a wild start that saw three cars pick up damage, and Safety Car boards and flags erroneously displayed.

The 2024 Supercars champion threatened to bring home a top five, only to be delayed in the pits due to rear damage, before tumbling down the order.

The #888 Red Bull Ampol Ford had indeed sustained a hit through the opening laps, with the bumper and diffuser coming loose.

Brown continued on in the minor positions until he made his compulsory pit stop, with Triple Eight mechanics servicing the loose rear section of the #888 Mustang amid the threat of a mechanical black flag.

The #888 Ford ultimately came home 17th. Brown, who had surged into the top 10 in Taupō last weekend, immediately fell out of a provisional Finals position.

The Queenslander had moved from 13th to ninth across the Taupō weekend, but in one fell swoop, dropped back to 11th. Penrite Racing driver Kai Allen was the beneficiary, winning his first Supercars race from fourth on the grid, and jumping back into the top 10.

It's the latest hurdle in what has been an up and down season to date for the 2024 champion, having copped penalties in the opening two rounds in Sydney and Melbourne that put him on the back foot early.

It wasn’t much better for Brown's teammate Broc Feeney, who was also delayed in pit lane with a slow change on the left rear tyre. Feeney clawed back through, but later remonstrated over the Safety Car flags incident.

Feeney maintained second overall, but his deficit to Brodie Kostecki blew out from 19 to 55 points.

Supercars return to Ruapuna tomorrow morning for back-to-back Boost Mobile Qualifying sessions, beginning at 10:05am NZST/8:05am AEST.