Brown, Payne avoid first day DNFs with damaged Fords

Will Brown believes he was lucky to finish the DUNLOP Sydney 500 opener after a robust battle with Matt Payne.

The 2024 Supercars champion finished seventh, three positions behind reigning Bathurst winner Payne, following a thrilling mid-race battle between the duo.

Brown muscled past Payne, who returned serve at Turn 2, leading to wheel-to-wheel contact between the two Mustangs.

Payne rose to fourth, while Brown was seventh, 10 seconds behind eventual winner and teammate Broc Feeney.

Speaking on the broadcast, Brown revealed his #888 Red Bull Ampol Ford picked up wheel damage during the battle. He also vowed to keep the incident in the back of his mind the next time he encounters Payne on track.

"We probably weren't as fast as we wanted to be," Brown said.

"Looking at the rim we were quite lucky that we finished. We got a fair bit of damage on the rim, pretty big hit there.

"It is what it is. Seventh place, not too bad."

Payne’s #19 Penrite Ford also sustained damage to the rim in the hit, ultimately crippling his efforts to try and wrestle a podium off James Golding. All things considered, both drivers got away with it.

When asked about the battle, Brown said: "He just got rid of me.

"Unfortunately he got it good enough that I couldn't get him back next corner, but that'll come. It is what it is.

"It's good hard racing out there, we're all racing hard, but I was a little bit disappointed. I thought we had a better car than we did then, I thought we could've moved forward."

Racing resumes on Saturday at 7:35pm local time.