Will Brown is officially back.<\/p>\n
Having been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons since the last round in Perth, the Triple Eight star celebrated a change of fortune at Queensland Raceway after he emerged with a drought-breaking win in the second leg of the Saturday sprint double at the Ipswich Super 440.<\/p>\n
After the spotlight on his form and his team\u2019s air restrictor saga, Brown bounced back to claim his first win in 12 months to inject life into his championship campaign.<\/p>\n
The 2024 Supercars champion prospered from two late safety cars to storm from third to the front of the field, passing championship leader Matt Payne for P2 on the first restart before overtaking Kai Allen on the second restart to clinch the lead with six laps to go.<\/p>\n
After the thrilling battle between the frontrunners after the final safety car restart, Brown then held off his good mate Brodie Kostecki, who had won the opening sprint race, to claim his first win since the second race at Ipswich last season. <\/p>\n
Brown\u2019s teammate Broc Feeney finished third to give Triple Eight a double podium.<\/p>\n
Brown\u2019s turnaround came after Triple Eight discovered last week that the 28-year-old had been racing with an under-sized air restrictor since the start of the season, which had impacted his car\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n
Before the discovery, the team had already decided to shift Brown, whose form – especially in qualifying – had been under the spotlight, to its spare chassis for the Ipswich round.<\/p>\n
Brown had admitted he questioned whether he still had it during his on-track struggles this year.<\/p>\n
With his dad in tears in pit lane after the win, Brown celebrated wildly in his car before taking the infamous air restrictor onto the podium for the presentation and drank champagne out on it.<\/p>\n
\u201cGive us the same equipment and see what happens,\u201d said an estactic Brown, who also finished third in the opening sprint race.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve just got to say what a mega race. On TV that must have looked amazing, Kai, Brodie, sorry Brodie I had to do it to you, you\u2019ve won plenty of races this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was elbows out and that\u2019s what racing is all about. <\/p>\n
\u201cThanks to everyone at Red Bull Ampol Racing. It\u2019s been a super tough year, obviously with the problem we had and this first weekend back a lot of people were saying we\u2019d still run mid-pack and here we are, number one.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was making it happen in that race no matter what. It was awesome. I would like to thank all my friends and family back in Toowoomba that are watching and have supported me during it, this is a mega moment. <\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, it nearly feels bigger than the championship to be honest. The championship was amazing, but it\u2019s been a tough old slog, even last year was a little bit tough.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut to get that part this weekend and really step up and get a win and a podium is amazing. I\u2019ve just got to let it sink in.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Toowoomba pilot earlier finished third in the first 39-lap battle to claim his first podium since the opening Taupo race in April after benefiting from a five-second time penalty to Allen, which cost the Grove young gun a spot on the dais. <\/p>\n
Brown sits seventh in the championship standings, 559 points behind title leader Payne, who finished sixth in the second race.<\/p>\n
Payne now holds a 110-point lead over Feeney in the title standings and is set to take out the Sprint Cup crown on Sunday.<\/p>\n
After being undercut by Allen, Kostecki looked set to pass the Grove driver for the effective lead on lap 22 when he ran wide off the track at turn three and dropped two positions behind Brown and Payne.<\/p>\n
Two laps later, Kostecki\u2019s DJR teammate Rylan Gray ran off the track, forcing the first safety car and turning the race on its head. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m stoked for Will, we had a good race at the end there and we banged doors,\u201d Kostecki said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been through hell, so it\u2019s good to see him have a big smile on his dial.\u201d <\/p>\n
Earlier, Kostecki stormed to an opening race win ahead of Payne, who had secured a pair of poles for the two sprint races with a stunning qualifying performance.<\/p>\n
Kostecki emerged with his seventh win of the season after finishing more than two seconds clear of the New Zealand championship frontrunner and Brown.<\/p>\n
Starting second on the grid behind Payne, Kostecki got a strong launch off the line and led Payne into the opening turn before pitting for the lead for three tyres on lap 19.<\/p>\n
The Dick Johnson Racing star then reeled in the undercutting cars of Chaz Mostert and Allen as the duo tussled before storming to a comfortable win.<\/p>\n
The win was a welcome result for Kostecki, who has more wins than any other driver this season, after a frustrating round in Perth when he failed to finish on the podium.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels fantastic. It\u2019s only a sprint race, but it means a lot to me to win here in front of DJ (team owner Dick Johnson), which is fantastic,\u201d Kostecki said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to thank everyone from the Shell V Power Racing team \u2026. I\u2019m stoked to get that one away.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey (the team) have been working incredibly hard the whole season and obviously we had a bit of an off-round in Perth, but to bounce back today, we made a really good strategy call and doing the three tyres there buys us a tyre later on in the weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was able to get me up to speed quicker than probably some of the other cars around me.<\/p>\n
\u201cStoked to get this one away and I\u2019ve got two more to go, so I just need to keep checking them off.\u201d<\/p>\n
KOSTECKI BOUNCES BACK FROM PERTH PAIN TO SURGE TO IPSWICH TRIUMPH<\/p>\n
Ford star Brodie Kostecki stormed to an opening race win at the Ipswich 440 ahead of title leader Matt Payne, who inched closer to securing the Supercars Sprint Cup as Will Brown celebrated a drought-breaking podium.<\/p>\n
After Payne earlier secured a pair of pole positions with a stunning qualifying performance, Kostecki emerged with his seventh win of the season after finishing more than two seconds clear of the New Zealand championship frontrunner. <\/p>\n
After his team\u2019s air restrictor saga, Brown finished third, claiming his first podium since the opening race in Taupo in April to turn his fortunes around, benefiting from a five-second time penalty to Payne\u2019s Grove Racing teammate Kai Allen, which cost him a spot on the dais.<\/p>\n
Starting second on the grid behind Payne, Kostecki got a strong launch off the line and led Payne into the opening turn before pitting for three tyres from the lead mid-way through the 39-lap race.<\/p>\n
The Dick Johnson Racing star and former champion then reeled in the undercutting cars of Chaz Mostert and Allen as the duo tussled before storming to a comfortable win.<\/p>\n
The win was a welcome result for Kostecki, who has more wins than any other driver this season, after a frustrating round in Perth when he failed to finish on the podium.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels fantastic. It\u2019s only a sprint race, but it means a lot to me to win here in front of DJ (team owner Dick Johnson), which is fantastic,\u201d Kostecki said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to thank everyone from the Shell V Power Racing team \u2026. I\u2019m stoked to get that one away.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey (the team) have been working incredibly hard the whole season and obviously we had a bit of an off-round in Perth, but to bounce back today, we made a really good strategy call and doing the three tyres there buys us a tyre later on in the weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was able to get me up to speed quicker than probably some of the other cars around me.<\/p>\n
\u201cStoked to get this one away and I\u2019ve got two more to go, so I just need to keep checking them off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kostecki sits fourth in the championship standings, 354 points behind Payne. <\/p>\n
Payne\u2019s second place extended his lead in the championship over Broc Feeney, who was fourth, to 125 points and can potentially secure the Sprint Cup crown in the next race.<\/p>\n
The Kiwi\u2019s result was his 17th podium of the season, underlying his incredible consistency.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were just struggling a little bit with the car in terms of the balance a little bit,\u201d Payne said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt didn\u2019t feel like we quite had it when the tyres started going away and we just needed a little bit more lap speed.<\/p>\n
\u201cLittle bit annoyed but still great points here to be sitting second.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to have to have a bit of a crack at the set-up. He (Kostecki) is fast, I knew he was going to be fast here, they test all the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good to give them a good run for their money, but we need to find a little bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n
After gearbox issues in practice on Friday, Brown celebrated his breakthrough podium after it was discovered last week he had been competing with an undersized air restrictor, which had been impacting his car\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n
Allen had crossed the line in third place ahead of Brown, but was bumped down to fifth after being hit with a five-second penalty for running Mostert (sixth) off the track.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s awesome. There has been a lot of noise throughout the week and pressure coming into this weekend for us to find form obviously with the restrictor back to normal size,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut to be one the podium feels great, we\u2019re up against some great competitors. Brodie and Matt Payne, they have been the standouts all year, so to be back up there fighting again has been really good this weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully in the next one we can have a bit more of a crack.\u201d <\/p>\n
The top five cars were all Mustangs with the highest-placed Chevrolet Camaro – Team 18\u2019s Anton De Pasquale – finishing 13th – more than 32 seconds behind the winning Ford.<\/p>\n
Payne will start from pole for Saturday\u2019s second sprint race ahead of Kostecki and Brown.<\/p>\n
TRIPLE EIGHT STAR\u2019S CURSED RUN CONTINUES AT IPSWICH <\/p>\n