Brown's downside of regular podium visits
Will Brown has 13 podiums in 16 starts this season
Three of the 13 podiums are race wins
Brown's last win came in New Zealand in April
Championship leader Will Brown admits it is "disappointing" not to have more wins despite being a regular feature on the podium in 2024.
The Triple Eight driver has a 105-point championship lead after seven rounds, built off 13 podiums in 16 starts. Brown has four more podiums than next best Chaz Mostert, who is now second in the championship.
However, three of Brown's 13 podiums are wins, with the #87 finishing second six times, and third four times. Brown’s last six trips to the podium haven’t been race victories.
It's a similar story to eventual 2023 champion Brodie Kostecki, who last year had three wins from 12 podiums after the first seven rounds.
Brown has now gone four rounds without winning a race, something not lost on the Queenslander, who is now 153 points ahead of teammate Broc Feeney.
However, despite Mostert winning his way back into the championship fight, Brown insists there is still a long way to go, with enduros on the horizon.
“We've just gotta try to keep getting these podiums, that's what it's about to get the championship,” Brown said after Sunday’s race.
“[The championship] is definitely on. They're doing a great job. But, it's still early days in the championship. We still have enduros to go. That always shakes it up. But I’m pretty confident we'll come back.
“We want to have wins. At the end of the day, you're out there to try and win, and it's disappointing having so many podiums this year and not wins.
"We'll try and convert later in the year and see how we go.”
Brown converted a one-stop strategy to third in Sunday’s race, with the Triple Eight driver following Cam Waters — also on a one-stopper — home behind the dominant Mostert.
Mostert (566 points) has out-scored Brown (393) by 174 points in the last two rounds, with Brown qualifying no higher than sixth across the last two rounds.
However, Brown is confident Triple Eight will "come out swinging” in Tasmania, where the team has a record 26 wins. Brown also won two of the three races at Symmons Plains last year, when he was racing for Erebus Motorsport.
"Yeah, we decided to go with the one stop, which ended up working out pretty well for us,” Brown said.
"A podium feels great today, to be honest. We haven’t had the best weekend, we didn’t have the best Townsville, so I felt like it was pretty solid. But really we just followed Cam around, and ended up where we did.
"I didn't have enough for [Waters] and then Chaz was that fast and they said, ‘Oh he's already near you. I think there's 12 laps to go'. I was like, 'Far out, he's fast’.
“He did a mega job, the guys at Walkinshaw did, but the Red Bull Ampol car will be back up there. I'm sure at Tassie we can come out swinging.”
The 2024 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint on August 16-18. Tickets for the event are on sale now.
Live coverage can be found on Foxtel, with live streaming available on Kayo. Highlights will be shown on the Seven Network and 7plus. International viewers can follow all the action on Superview.
