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The moment Triple Eight knew Brown could win the championship

Supercars
21 Nov
Will Brown drove his new Camaro for the first time in early February. That day, Triple Eight knew they had something special

Test day number one. Test one.

That was when title- and Bathurst-winning engineer Andrew Edwards knew Will Brown could be Supercars champion.

Triple Eight Race Engineering ends 2024 on top of the Supercars tree once again, with Brown winning the drivers' championship, and the Camaro squad its record-extended 12th teams' championship.

However, with Shane van Gisbergen moving on, and Broc Feeney set to go to another level, it seemed Brown would be the one playing catch-up, given his 2023 campaign also ended in a whimper.

Remarkably, Brown reeled off 19 podiums in 24 starts, a podium at all 12 rounds, and a title clinched with one race to spare.

The pathway to such success commenced the first time Brown and Edwards put their heads together at a February test day at Queensland Raceway, with veteran engineer Edwards taken aback by what he saw.

"Look, when I looked into what he'd done in the past, the more I looked, the more I thought this can happen," Edwards told Supercars' Schick Cool Down Lap podcast.

"We did that first test day and I was like, 'I think we're on'. I really thought from test one that we had a shot to win the championship."

Brown left the Bathurst season opener a pole-sitter, race winner and championship leader. He won again at the Grand Prix to reclaim the points lead, which he didn't let go of for the rest of the season.

The Queenslander didn't take the most wins, nor did he score the most poles. However, on the days he wasn't fastest, he made sure he got the best possible result.

For Edwards, that was a reflection of Brown's willingness to improve and extract speed when Triple Eight wasn't the benchmark. Edwards, who engineered van Gisbergen to 25 wins, a championship and two Bathurst victories, believes there's more to come from his driver.

"From there, he really hasn't proved me wrong," Edwards added.

"He just keeps learning and getting better and wanting to learn, and all those characteristics that make a good good champion, a good person in the team.

"He's an incredible fit for our team. He's just naturally gifted, so I think as he learns, I think there's still more to come from him. So, I think we're going to see some good things in the future too."

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