SVG lessons guiding Brown's AGP prep

Lessons learned under Shane van Gisbergen has helped Will Brown’s engineer apply crucial pointers to the championship leader ahead of this weekend’s round in Melbourne.

Red Bull Ampol Racing recruit Brown arrives at Albert Park as points leader, having finished second and first at the Thrifty Bathurst 500 last month.

While Bathurst’s 250km races had pit stops, this weekend’s sprints won’t have compulsory stops, meaning drivers will have to keep an eye on tyre wear.

Managing tyre wear was a key strength of van Gisbergen, who was led to victory in last year’s Albert Park opener by engineer Andrew Edwards.

Edwards and van Gisbergen also combined for two Albert Park wins in 2022, as part of their record-breaking 21-win haul en route to the title.

“Yeah, it's a big thing. Obviously, no pit stops this year,” Brown said.

"You know, if it rains, it'll be an interesting one for us to see what happens.

"I feel pretty confident after the first round that we can go there and do a good job.”

Brown made the leap from Erebus Motorsport and was immediately on the pace with Triple Eight, taking Race 1 pole and leading before being overhauled by teammate Broc Feeney.

The Toowoomba-born driver turned the tables on Sunday, beating Chaz Mostert in the pits to race away to Race 2 victory, claiming a nine-point championship lead.

“It's an awesome start to the year, you know, to make the switch over this year,” Brown said.

"There's a lot of unknowns and probably for the team as well with me as a driver.

“Hopefully we can keep that rolling throughout the year. It's a long year, but I'm absolutely stoked with where I've landed and all the guys I'm working with.”

Supercars will hit the track at the MSS Security Melbourne SuperSprint on Thursday.

Brown leads Feeney by nine points, with Walkinshaw Andretti United Ford star Mostert 21 points behind.