Brown: No gain in championship despite qualifying surprise
Supercars
15 Nov
Will Brown scores crucial provisional pole amid crash chaos
Points leader fastest on Friday as crashes end qualifying
Broc Feeney fourth, Brown leads by 180 points
Will Brown feels he didn't gain much advantage in the championship fight from a fortuitous provisional pole position at the VAILO Adelaide 500, following a dramatic qualifying session.
Championship leader Brown ended Friday on top of the time sheets, with crashes bringing an early end to the day's Boost Mobile Qualifying session.
Brown fired in a banker lap before Richie Stanaway, Cameron Hill and David Reynolds all came to grief at Turn 8, which led to a lengthy delay and, later, end to proceedings.
Officials determined that the session could not resume, gifting Brown a crucial provisional pole in his quest to clinch the Repco Supercars Championship.
However, with Triple Eight Race Engineering teammate and title rival Broc Feeney fourth amid the chaos, Brown believes he can't take too much away from the day's play.
"I'm glad that qualifying session got called, that’s for sure," the Queenslander said.
"We’re certainly in a good position qualifying on provisional pole going into tomorrow’s Top Ten Shootout.
"It was a crazy session, I didn’t know if some oil or something was down on the road, but then I watched some of the guys turn a bit too early and ended up in the fence – there were certainly a few big shunts.
"At the end of the day, I don’t think I gained much of an advantage in the championship because Broc also qualified in the 10, and everyone’s got the same opportunity in tomorrow’s shootout.
"I think tomorrow’s race will be pretty exciting with some of the guys like Chaz and Nick starting at the back of the field."
Feeney, who needs to gain 30 points on Brown in Saturday's race to take the title fight to Sunday, is confident he can make his presence felt come race time.
“We weren’t on track much today that’s for sure. In qualifying, I only did one lap then speared off in the next one," said Feeney, who won in 2022 and finished second 12 months ago.
"Our first lap was obviously competitive against those who did one, but the second laps were a lot faster. Overall, I’m feeling pretty good.
"After having both practice sessions under our belt, I think we’re a top five car at the moment, but the car probably doesn’t feel as nice as it could be.
"There’s still a long way in the weekend to go and we know we’re strong here in the races. I’m certainly looking forward to more laps on track tomorrow."
Supercars will return on Saturday with Practice 3 at 10:00am local time/10:30am AEDT, followed by the Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout at 12:35pm/1:05pm AEDT.
The Shootout will set the grid for the first 78-lap race of the weekend, Race 23, at 3:20pm local time/3:50pm AEDT.
