Brown: Fight to unlock new tyre 'story of my life'
Will Brown laments "story of my life" with new tyre speed
Points leader fifth and sixth in Friday's two practice sessions
Teammate Broc Feeney fourth, Tickford leads the way
While fifth and sixth in Friday's two practice sessions, championship leader Will Brown still isn't settled over his ability to unlock new tyre pace.
The Triple Eight driver ended Friday at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 behind lead Ford trio Thomas Randle, Cam Waters and Matt Payne, with teammate Broc Feeney fourth ahead of Bathurst winner Brodie Kostecki.
While the 2024 benchmark in race trim, Brown has two poles this season, the first coming way back at the Mountain in February, and the second at Sandown.
While confident with his race car, Brown knows he needs to get it right over one lap, something he has been unable to do on the Gold Coast.
In four attempts since 2022, Brown has a qualifying average of 16.0, and best grid result of eighth, at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit.
“I felt like we were going really strong. We were fast on a used tyre, but the story of my life, I didn't switch on the green tyre,” Brown said.
"Overall, really confident with the race car, but just need to be a little bit better in qualifying. The biggest thing is getting in that Top Ten Shootout and then all hell breaks loose once you get in there.
"We'll work at it for qualifying tomorrow. I think we’ve got a really good base car and something that can be really fast, just need to put it all together.
"Conditions are cool, it's very fast out there right now. It's pretty loose. Obviously, with some of the kerb strikes off some corners you're definitely going faster which is a great thing.”
Feeney, who is 204 points behind teammate Brown, was happier year-on-year. However, the 22-year-old still feels the fast Fords are still just ahead, for now.
“It's fun to be back. You forget how out of control this track is. I think we hit the ground running a lot better than when we did 12 months ago, so it's good to be right in the mix for both sessions," Feeney said.
"We're still a bit off the top three guys, I think we're in the mix, which is positive. We've been competitive, but still got probably a bit to find, and a lot to find in myself.
"I think we're in a good spot heading into qualifying tomorrow. I think we've got the pace to certainly be in that top five. We definitely need to find a little bit more to be in the top three, but it's just going to be about us executing a lap.”
On track action at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 continues on Saturday with Boost Mobile Qualifying at 11:00am local time/12:00pm AEDT. Tickets for the event are on sale now.
