Will Brown says "driving defensively" could lose championship
Broc Feeney 204 points down, Chaz Mostert 222 points behind
600 points available across Gold Coast, Adelaide rounds
Will Brown is still determined to chase race wins in the final two rounds despite opening up a significant margin in the hunt for the 2024 Repco Supercars Championship.
Brown has a 204-point lead over Triple Eight teammate Broc Feeney, with Chaz Mostert a further 18 behind.
Across the final two rounds on the Gold Coast and Adelaide, there are 600 points on offer, with 150 going to the winner of each race.
Simply, if Brown can put 97 points on Feeney and 79 on Mostert after the Gold Coast finale, he will clinch the championship with a round to spare.
Logically, it's now Brown's title to lose, and the stats are on his side. Since the 300-point system was introduced in 2008, the pre-enduro points leader has become champion 14 times in 18 seasons at 78 percent.
Brown's lead was 81 points after Tasmania. Across the two enduros, he has put a race on his closest rival, thanks to a win at Sandown and third at Bathurst alongside Scott Pye.
However, the Queenslander isn't set on cruising to the title.
"We said after Bathurst we'd start looking at the championship, so I'm sure it'll play into mind now," Brown said after Sunday's race.
"But I still want to win races. We've got Gold Coast and Adelaide coming up, two great events.
"I don't want to run around and just try and get points. That's generally how you lose a championship.
"So we'll go out and race as hard as we can at those events and see what happens. It's only a couple of weeks and then we're at the Gold Coast, so it'll come around quick."
Brown knows how to win championships, winning the Formula 4 (2016), Toyota 86 (2016) and TCR Australia (2019) titles in recent years.
He led the championship last year for Erebus Motorsport midway through the season, but fell apart in the closing rounds. In the final two rounds on the Gold Coast and Adelaide, he rounded out the year with results of 11th, 11th, DNF and 14th, and ended up fifth
Despite being the hunted in 2024, the 26-year-old insists he can't drive defensively, given doubt could creep in.
"Just take it as it comes. That's what we've done all year. It's a tough one. I haven't been in this position in the Supercars Championship, but in lower divisions, I have been," Brown added.
"I think if you start thinking about championships and driving defensively, something generally goes wrong."
The 2024 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 on October 25-27. Tickets for the event are on sale now.