Erebus Motorsport’s Will Brown has continued his fine form on the streets of Townsville today, securing his eighth top ten of the season. Meanwhile it was a difficult afternoon for teammate Brodie Kostecki who finished P22.
Starting side-by-side from P11 and P12 on the grid, Brodie got a huge launch and turned down the inside at Turn 2 in what was the move of the day. He gained five spots by the end of the opening lap whilst Will did his best to hold position.
There was plenty of argy bargy as the field made their way over to the back section of the track. Todd Hazelwood used the #99 Commodore as a brake into Turn 12 before Brodie returned serve at the next turn with a bit of a bump on the way through. The next lap, Shane van Gisbergen tried the same move on Brodie, though the dive bomb sent Brodie onto the grass and ultimately down to P14 when he re-joined the circuit.
It went from bad to worse for the Boost Mobile driver when he was served a 15-second time penalty for the contact with Hazelwood. There was big damage to the Holden, though with the penalty in mind, Brodie soldiered on and battled his bent race car.
Will drove well all the way to the pit entry when he stopped at the end of lap 15 for three-tyres. The #9 driver was faultless throughout, and after slotting into the top ten on lap 24, Will effortlessly drove his way to the flag.
Brodie went almost all the way to the end before stopping for rear tyres and to serve his time penalty. From there it was a two-lap sprint to the finish where he crossed the line in P22.
The team now prepare for back-to-back qualifying sessions and two more 39-lap sprint races tomorrow.