Brown on the pace in open-wheel return

Supercars champion Will Brown is on the pace at his open-wheel racing return in New Zealand, following a big day of practice at Taupō.

Brown is making his first of three Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship appearances this weekend at Taupō International Motorsport Park, which host Supercars in April.

The Taupō weekend comes after Brown linked up with former Supercars rival Shane van Gisbergen in a spot of dirt karting after he first touched down in New Zealand.

The Queenslander’s first open-wheel outing in six years, dating back to a S5000 cameo in 2019, has started strongly after an impressive showing in Friday’s three practice sessions.

Pitted against rising open-wheel stars, Brown set the fourth-fastest time, a 1:23.436s, in the first of three Friday practice sessions, behind Nikita Johnson, Arvid Lindblad and Michael Shin. In Practice 2, Brown was eighth with a 1:24.969s, with Lindblad fastest ahead of Shawn Rashid, Josh Pierson and Shin.

In the final session of the day, the 10-time Supercars race winner ended up fourth with a best of 1:24.029s, behind Johnson, Lindblad and Pierson.

Brown, who is competing for Giles Motorsport, hit an early snag when he had to borrow a helmet from fellow Red Bull-sponsored driver and Formula One star Liam Lawson.

The Triple Eight Supercars star’s own helmet was deemed to be an incorrect specification for the category, with Brown hitting the track in Lawson’s helmet.

Brown is racing in New Zealand with a full Red Bull livery, his standard #87 number, and Triple Eight engineer Andrew Edwards.

The 26-year-old will take part in three races across the weekend at Taupō International Motorsport Park, and will also race at Hampton Downs and Highlands in coming weeks.

Brown will also share an Arise Racing Ferrari at the upcoming Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour with Supercars rival Chaz Mostert, before the new season gets underway in Sydney on February 21-23.