Brown apologises to Davison, accepts penalty over clash

Will Brown has apologised for his Townsville run-in with Will Davison, which attracted a penalty for the reigning champion and led to a spin for the Ford veteran.

Brown and Davison finished fourth and 13th in Saturday’s NTI Townsville 500 race, which was won by championship leader Broc Feeney.

After being roughed up into Turn 2 by Cooper Murray after the start, Brown stayed with the leading pack after the first Safety Car restart.

On lap 12, Brown haunted the rear of Davison’s Shell V-Power Ford, and launched his own attack into Turn 2. Instead, a crossover attempt led to front-to-rear contact.

The contact pushed the rear guard on Davison’s car back onto the Shell Ford's rear wheel, causing heavy tyre rub that forced Dick Johnson Racing to call Davison in for a pit stop.

As Davison attempted to come into pit lane, he was turned around by Andre Heimgartner, and was forced to mount a comeback. Brown, meanwhile, was hit with a five-second penalty, and recovered to fourth.

"Had a crazy race at the start there, got hit pretty hard into Turn 1 and that put us back a few positions which was disappointing,” Brown said in a team release.

"There was a lot of elbows out racing from the start, feels like everyone got caught up in their own little bumps with someone else.

"Sorry to Davo, we came together there, I tried to switch back in a corner that and got the kerb then damaged his car when I ran back on.

"So that was disappointing, I got a five second penalty for that which was deserved and then was able to drive it back up to fourth.”

Per the stewards report, Brown was found to have made "avoidable contact” with Davison, with the Triple Eight star found guilty of careless driving, "departing from the Standard of a competent Driver."

The report states: “The Stewards reviewed broadcast vision and consulted with the DSA. Having considered the matter extensively, the Stewards determined that Car 1 made avoidable contact with the rear bumper of Car 17 through careless driving, the contact pushed Car 17’s bumper into the right rear tyre causing significant smoke and resulted in Car 17 having to pit. The Stewards imposed a 5 second Time Penalty which is consistent with penalties for similar breaches of this type.”

It was a missed opportunity for Brown, who despite setting the fastest lap of the race, missed the podium for the sixth race in a row, and 11th time in his last 14 starts.

"Felt like we had the fastest car out there, to be honest. It was a great car, we had very good pace,” Brown said.

"Saying that, you know, can't do a trick right at the moment but yeah good to know we've got the car speed under us. "Tomorrow will be good. We've just got a qualify well, get up the front, get in that top three, and we'll race well.

"I'm just going to go get myself back up there, came close today but need to be back on the podium."

Supercars action resumes on Saturday with Boost Mobile Qualifying at 10:05am AEST, followed by the Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout at 12:05pm. The final race of the weekend, Race 22, commences at 3:00pm.

Foxtel/Kayo's Saturday coverage commences at 8:00am AEST, with the Seven Network taking live coverage from 12:00pm. Please check local guides.