Brown claims Supercars crown as Red Bulls run riot
Will Brown has claimed his first Supercars championship with a race to spare after doing enough to deny teammate Broc Feeney in the Adelaide 500.
Feeney claimed the race honours on the Adelaide street circuit on Saturday, but Brown's second-placed finish gave him an unassailable 168-point lead over his Red Bull stablemate - the only man challenging his grip on the title.
With only 150 points left up for grabs from the final race of the season on Sunday, Brown will finally be able to rest easy, having led the championship since race four.
Meanwhile Feeney's sixth win of the season gives him an unassailable lead in the race win tally, ahead of Brown and Cam Waters on four each.
In fourth place and needing third or better to seal the title with Feeney leading, Brown overtook Thomas Randle with 22 laps to go.
He then passed Waters with 13 laps left and held on until the chequered flag.
Waters held off Grove Racing driver Matt Payne - the reigning Adelaide 500 champion - to finish in third.
The result meant Brown has managed to podium in every round of the season - the first driver to achieve the feat in four decades.
Tickford duo Waters and Randle started in the front row of an unusual grid after a bizarre trio of crashes from Richie Stanaway, Cam Hill and David Reynolds cut qualifying short on Friday.
Chaz Mostert was unable to complete a consequential lap in the session and so started near the back of the grid.
Dale Wood was a last-minute replacement in the No.26 Camaro for Stanaway, who withdrew from the race with delayed-onset concussion symptoms.
Cooper Murray was also a late sub in for Erebus after Jack Le Brocq pulled out to attend the birth of his first child.
Murray, who will be elevated to full-time driving in 2025, had a shocker of a race, pitting twice for repairs to a flapping front left guard, before copping 30 seconds worth of penalties for driving infringements.
One infringement was for shunting veteran driver Mark Winterbottom in his second-last race as a full-time driver, resulting in "Frosty" spinning out and plunging down the grid.
David Reynolds also encountered car troubles after contact with Tim Slade and was forced into a lengthy repair spot in the pit.
Last year's champion Brodie Kostecki continued his impressive end to the season, improving from 11th to sixth.
His title defence was ended early after missing the first six races following a spat with Erebus management.
Triple Eight had already claimed the teams championship, with an unassailable 1258-point lead over Tickford in second before the race.
RACE 27 RESULTS:
1. Broc Feeney (Triple Eight Race Engineering)
2. Will Brown (Triple Eight Race Engineering)
3. Cam Waters (Tickford Racing)
4. Matt Payne (Grove Racing)
5. Thomas Randle (Tickford Racing)
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:
1. Will Brown - 2910 pts
2. Broc Feeney - 2742 pts
3. Chaz Mostert - 2529 pts
4. Cam Waters - 2473 pts
5. Matt Payne - 1983 pts
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