Brown cruises to another commanding win

By Thomas Miles

Date posted: 21 May 2023

Will Brown has continued his strong form by dominating the third and final race of the Tasmania SuperSprint.

After a super start, Brown enjoyed an untroubled run to the chequered flag to take a third win from the last two rounds and further cement himself as a championship challenger.

He led an Erebus 1-2 in the first stint before Broc Feeney got by Brodie Kostecki, who held onto third after keeping Shane van Gisbergen at bay this time after another almighty battle for the final podium place.

Van Gisbergen used a major undercut to climb from ninth to fourth, while Jack Le Brocq ensured the top five were covered by Camaros.

Chaz Mostert rose five spots to be the top placed Ford in sixth ahead of fastest lap getter Cam Waters.

PremiAir Racing suffered the heartbreak of seeing Tim Slade slip from the top five to last due to mechanical issues, but all 25 cars were classified in a Safety Car free race.

It was an all Erebus front row as Brown got the jump to lead Kostecki and Le Brocq as Andre Heimgartner took a shortcut through Turn 2 further back after contact with James Golding.

Will Brown leads an Erebus 1-2 at the start of Race 12. Image: Mark Horsburgh

Waters dropped from third to sixth to promote Feeney and Slade into the top five.

A four-horse race between Brown, Kostecki, Le Brocq and Feeney was soon established as the field was much calmer than the earlier sprint.

Things escalated on Lap 7 when Declan Fraser was squeezed out by Macauley Jones and spun onto the infield at the final corner.

A lap later Heimgartner experienced his second off-track excursion at Turn 2, but this time he ventured off to the outside gravel with James Courtney after they clashed under braking.

James Courtney and Andre Heimgartner got tangled up at Turn 2 early in the race. Image: Mark Horsburgh

The #5 Tickford Racing Mustang later got caught up with another BJR Camaro driven by Macauley Jones at the final corner, but both cars managed to keep it on the black stuff.

Having applied the blowtorch for a number of laps, Feeney muscled his way past Le Brocq for third at Turn 2 on Lap 10.

But their battle had allowed the two Coke Camaros to build a 1.5s advantage on the rest of the field at one-quarter distance.

Van Gisbergen was the first of the leaders to pit from ninth on Lap 12, while Nick Percat went a lap down with a slow stop due to a loose brake pedal in his 300th race.

Jack Le Brocq and Tim Slade fought at the front during the start of the race. Image: Mark Horsburgh

The fight for fourth intensified as Slade’s unsuccessful dive down the inside of Le Brocq at Turn 6 resulted in contact.

Although the pair managed to keep their cars straight, the moment brought Waters into play.

Meanwhile former Matt Stone Racing driver Todd Hazelwood went a lap down after his CoolDrive Mustang was released from the pits with the left rear not properly screwed on.

On Lap 20 Kostecki boxed alongside Le Brocq to spark a chain of stops.

Le Brocq rejoined ahead of the undercutting van Gisbergen, but dropped behind car #97 after a controversial whack on the exit of the hairpin.

Leader Brown pitted a lap later and enjoyed a comfortable 2s lead on exit from his teammate.

Pitting up to 14 laps earlier than his rivals, van Gisbergen rose from ninth to effective fourth.

Bryce Fullwood scored his first top 10 at Symmons Plains.

Waters sat a couple of positions back, but smoke started regularly appearing from the right front of his #6 Monster Mustang.

Despite the issue, it did not stop him from diving down the inside of Hill, who also lost out to Mostert in the process, which saw the rookie dropped to the fringes of the top 10.

There was greater heartbreak for Slade, dropping from the front to the back with major mechanical drama on Lap 34.

Up front Brown was checking out as Feeney closed in on Kostecki and snatched second at the hairpin with 10 to go. Car #99 soon lost a podium place to van Gisbergen at Turn 6.

Brodie Kostecki and Shane van Gisbergen wrestled for third at the back end of the race. Image: mark Horsburgh

However, just when he looked down and out, Kostecki reclaimed third at the same corner with three laps to go.

With Le Brocq also in the background, a fascinating battle for third emerged as Kostecki and van Gisbergen swapped positions.

But unlike in Perth, Kostecki kept car #97 behind, while the sister Coke Camaro driven by Brown completed a convincing weekend by backing up his Saturday win with a Sunday success.

Having never previously scored a podium at Symmons Plains, two wins by Erebus this weekend has ensured it is the team to beat after the first third of the season.

2023 Tasmania SuperSprint Race 12 results

1 Will Brown 37:15.8755

2 Broc Feeney +4s

3 Brodie Kostecki +9s

4 Shane van Gisbergen +10s

5 Jack Le Brocq +11s

6 Chaz Mostert +11s

7 Cameron Waters +15s

8 Mark Winterbottom +16s

9 Anton De Pasquale +17s

10 Bryce Fullwood +19s

11 Cameron Hill +20s

12 David Reynolds +21s

13 Will Davison +23s

14 Thomas Randle +24s

15 Scott Pye +24s

16 James Golding +25s

17 Andre Heimgartner +26s

18 Jack Smith +34s

19 Macauley Jones +37s

20 Declan Fraser +38s

21 Matthew Payne +40s

22 James Courtney +41s

23 Nick Percat +45s

24 Todd Hazelwood +49s

25 Tim Slade +4 Laps

Championship points after round 4

1 Brodie Kostecki 986

2 Will Brown -87

3 Chaz Mostert – 166

4 Shane van Gisbergen -172

5 Broc Feeney -191

2023 Tasmania SuperSprint schedule (all times AEST)

Saturday, May 20

Practice 1: 1 Brodie Kostecki 51.0147; 2 James Courtney +0.1485; 3 Todd Hazelwood +0.179

Practice 2: 1 Brodie Kostecki 51.172; 2 Jack Le Brocq +0.019; 3 Will Brown +0.054

Qualifying R10: 1: Will Brown 2 Jack Le Brocq 3 Cam Waters

Race 10: 1: Will Brown 2 Andre Heimgartner 3 Shane van Gisbergen

Sunday, May 21

Qualifying R11: 1 B. Kostecki; 2 Broc Feeney +0.002; 3 Will Brown +0.062

Qualifying R12: 1 Brodie Kostecki 50.621; 2 Will Brown +0.018; 3 Cameron Waters +0.031

Race 11: 1 Broc Feeney 2 Brodie Kostecki 3 Will Brown

Race 12: 15.50-14.45

Download the full Supercars Tasmania Round 4 Event Guide with track stats and facts and a full event schedule, plus our extensive driver profiles here

Supercars Tasmania Round 4 Event Guide

Symmons Plains, Speedseries, pains and gussets

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