Will Brown perplexed by costly Gold Coast Sunday slump
Brown dropped from second in the first stint to 11th at the finish
Triple Eight star fell from third to fifth in the championship
You could forgive Will Brown for feeling frustrating, having finished 11th and 36 seconds from victory after starting on the front row in Sunday's Gold Coast finale.
Brown qualified for the Sandown Semi Final, but it was far from a Sunday drive for the Red Bull Ampol Ford driver, who sank like a stone in the 250km race.
The #888 Red Bull Ampol Mustang trailed the sister #88 of Broc Feeney throughout the first stint, with Brown losing a spot to Brodie Kostecki after the first stops.
On lap 48, the battles really kicked off, as Brown was picked off by both Walkinshaw TWG Racing Toyotas. After his second stop, Brown had nothing left, and crawled to 11th.
“Yeah, it was a very hard race. But I don't know what went wrong, to be honest," the Queenslander said on the broadcast.
“Like, we can't be that far out the window and literally can't drive that bad. So I think there'll be something broken on the car when we have a look.
“Everyone was just driving past us like we were standing still. So, disappointing."
Brown dropped from third to fifth in the standings, and is the first driver on the outside looking in for the Semi Final in two weeks' time. He starts the Sandown weekend 12 points behind Chaz Mostert.
In a silver lining, Brown won his own Top Dog Challenge, with $30,000 going to his rising star of choice, GR Scholarship racer Harry Bresnehan.
“Great to get through to the Finals," Brown added.
"I would've loved to still be in third position just to give a few extra points.”
Track action at Sandown commences on Friday November 6.
