Why Pye never lost faith in 'ruthless killer' Brown

Few see the inner sanctum of Will Brown’s craft like co-driver Scott Pye, who maintains that he and Triple Eight never lost faith in the 2024 champion amid a slump in form.

Brown motored back into the championship discussion with a brilliant weekend performance in Ipswich, where he claimed a win, a pole position and three podiums from a many starts.

The Queenslander entered the weekend under pressure to perform, on two fronts — his previous run of outs, and that an undersized engine restrictor issue had been resolved.

Pye — who won the 2024 Sandown 500 with Brown — was trackside at Queensland Raceway, and watched on as the #888 Red Bull Ampol Ford driver delivered a resounding response to his critics.

“The external conversation was louder than the internal one at Triple Eight, that's for sure,” Pye told Supercars.com.

“I don't think the team ever stopped backing him, and from what I'd seen, it was fairly clear that there was an issue with the car. The team was relentless in trying to find the solution.

“Look, it's tough for Will because, in the media more so than anywhere, the conversation around him that was not in the best light. But I thought he did a very good job of being professional. He never threw his toys out of the cot and blamed the car. He just tried to just work with the team to improve it.

“Internally, no one doubted Will's ability. He is a champion. I've driven with him. My first year with Will, I was blown away with how fast he is, and then also outside the car, how competitive he is.

“Drivers don't forget how to drive. Even on our [Apex Hunters United] podcast, we have a ‘Who Remembered, Who Forgot’ segment, which is exactly for this reason — it’s to show that drivers don't forget, and I think that more often than not, the car's performance dictates where a driver stacks up in the field rather than the driver itself, because they're all so close.”

Brown revealed on his own Lucky Dogs podcast that he drove the decision to take the restrictor revelation public, despite knowing it would pile the pressure onto him for the weekend.

“It was so weird. People that didn’t even like Red Bull or didn’t like me or whatever, I feel like they wanted me to win a race on the weekend… we wouldn’t have had that if we hadn’t come out and said what was actually wrong with the car [and] just didn’t put it out to the public,” Brown explained.

“I personally wasn’t going to let that happen because I felt like for me as a driver, it should be in the media why we had been having such a tough time.”

When asked if he backed Brown’s motivation to take the news public, Pye — who encountered his fair share of frustrations through 300-plus Supercars starts — said: “I do, yes, because ultimately, it's our name on the door.”

Pye cited his own recent burnout blunder in Latvia, where he found the fence during a demonstration run. Pye was quick to own the mistake, knowing it wouldn’t go unnoticed.

“The drivers are the ones that receive most of the hate,” Pye continued.

“So I think it's important to have the driver's back sometimes as well. When we make a mistake on track, or like I did in Latvia, it's very public. People see who made the mistake, and they hold you accountable for that.

“I think sometimes it's nice that a team will take the responsibility off the driver and actually take ownership of it as well, and I think that's all we ask for sometimes.

“I battled with it my final year in ’23. I felt like we'd go to corporate suites and lie to everyone because you're trying to protect the team, while at the same time, you're getting hate online when you check your phone every time.

“So, I think it is nice when a team doesn't hide behind certain things, and they actually own their mistakes as much as a driver has to own theirs.”

Pye also acknowledged the media’s role in the situation, given the intense scrutiny on Brown.

However, time after time, Brown fronted up to the broadcast after being eliminated in qualifying, and while the interviews ranged from surprise to disappointment, Brown never pointed the finger.

Pye, who has been on both sides of the microphone, hailed Brown’s candour amid obvious frustration.

“Will did a very good job at always answering the questions and respecting that everyone's trying to do their job,” Pye said.

“It’s hard. I've worked in broadcast too, and asking the question is horrible. It's the worst feeling to go up to a driver after their worst moment, knowing how they feel. But everyone has a role to play and a job to do.

“But I thought Will was very professional. I mean, that's his nature, right? He's a ruthless killer, but at the same time he is just a down-to-earth guy that loves going car racing, and he wears his heart on his sleeve.

“It’s not so much tall poppy, but I think no one likes to see a driver have an excuse. They’d almost rather drivers take ownership of it, even if it's not their fault.

“Sometimes drivers don’t have an option in those moments. You have to just say it's your fault even when it's not sometimes. Otherwise, the hate that comes with saying what's truly happening just isn't worth it.”

Pye will share the #888 Red Bull Ampol Mustang with Brown at The Bend and Bathurst in coming weeks.