Home

V8 Supercars: Will Brown caps fairytale season with Adelaide 500 demolition derby victory

Jacob ShteymanAAP
Will Brown has been crowned champion.
Camera IconWill Brown has been crowned champion. Credit: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

Will Brown has claimed the Adelaide 500 after the final race of the Supercars season descended into crash-filled chaos.

The newly crowned Supercars champion fought back from 22nd on the grid on Sunday after he was turned around by former teammate Brodie Kostecki at turn seven on lap nine.

With 16 laps to go, Brown was given a huge favour by his Triple Eight teammate Broc Feeney, who shunted race leader Chaz Mostert.

As the drivers braked into turn six, Feeney clipped Mostert’s back right and sent him spinning into the barrier.

With Mostert’s damaged Ford Mustang lacking in pace, Brown closed the gap and overtook the Walkinshaw Andretti United man on the Brock Straight with 12 laps left.

Mostert eventually limped over the line in second place, with Tickford’s Thomas Randle third.

The Game Cricket 2024-25 Early Bird

Mostert and Feeney had been locked in an intense duel from the front row until Feeney was handed a 15-second penalty for an unsafe release in the pit lane.

Feeney was given another 15-second penalty for his bump on Mostert, resulting in him dropping to seventh, despite crossing the line first.

The 22-year-old had good company in the disciplinary corner.

Kostecki, Cam Waters, Anton De Pasquale, Ryan Wood, Aaron Love and Mark Winterbottom - in his last race as a full-time driver - all copped penalties for whacking rival drivers in a chaotic season finale.

Reigning Adelaide 500 champion Matt Payne was also sent headfirst into the tyre wall on turn 11 by Nick Percat, burrowing under the barrier and losing his bonnet in the process.

Payne dropped to the back of the pack while his car was repaired and the sole safety car of the race ran out on the track.

Kai Allen was also dogged by damage to the back of his Mustang after contact from James Courtney in lap one.

The Super2 runner-up was elevated into Richie Stanaway’s seat after the New Zealander was ruled out with concussion after his own crash at turn eight on Friday.

Only 23 cars started the race after Jaxon Evans was also diagnosed with concussion following an ugly high-speed crash in qualifying.

The New Zealander was diagnosed with concussion after his high-speed collision during qualifying on Sunday.

Will Brown celebrates.
Camera IconWill Brown celebrates. Credit: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

With seconds remaining in the session, the Brad Jones Racing driver clipped the inside kerb of the infamous corner and careened into the concrete barrier opposite.

The collision ripped the front left wheel off the chassis and sent pieces of bodywork flying as the car slid along the barrier before bouncing off and crashing into the opposite wall.

The smoking wreckage finally came to a rest halfway down Brabham Straight.

“Feeling a little bit shaken up after that,” Evans said soon after the crash.

“Never nice to be the one that ends up in the fence, especially here at turn eight.

“Obviously it’s qualifying, so we’re putting everything on the line. I feel like I didn’t turn in super early, maybe a little bit in the end and I just caught the inside fence, which put me into the outside fence, and from there on you’re a passenger.”

It was the same turn that ended Friday’s opening qualifying session early, when Richie Stanaway, Cam Hill and David Reynolds clipped the same kerb and collided into the same section of concrete within seconds of each other.

Evans was able to walk away from his crash and was cleared by a medical assessment, but his condition deteriorated.

Jaxon Evans car crash in Adelaide.
Camera IconJaxon Evans suffered concussion after crashing in the Adelaide 500. Credit: AAP

“This means that Jaxon will be unable to take any further part in this weekend and the SCT Motorsport Camaro will remain in the garage for the final race of the season,” his team Brad Jones Racing said in a statement.

Team principal Brad Jones said their engineers had been on track to repair the severely damaged vehicle before the race.

“The amount of work they’ve done in such a short space of time is staggering,” Jones said.

The crash prompted calls for a review of the turn’s layout.

Supercars legend and commentator Mark Skaife suggested moving back the barrier on the outside of the turn, while three-time champion Scott McLaughlin questioned the positioning of the guardrail on the inside of the corner.

Jones fell victim to turn eight as a driver himself, but did not feel there needed to be any changes to the corner.

“I don’t know that you need to do anything, to tell you the truth,” he said.

“Motor racing is tricky and that’s a tricky corner. You take a risk and sometimes when it goes wrong you pay the price.”

Turn eight struck again in race three of the Porsche Carrera Cup, with Glen Wood and championship leader Harri Jones falling victim to the inside kerb-concrete barrier combo.

RACE 24 RESULTS:

1. Will Brown (Triple Eight Race Engineering)

2. Chaz Mostert (Walkinshaw Andretti United)

3. Thomas Randle (Tickford Racing)

4. Will Davison (Dick Johnson Racing)

5. Nick Percat (Matt Stone Racing)

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:

1. Will Brown - 3060 pts

2. Broc Feeney - 2838 pts

3. Chaz Mostert - 2667 pts

4. Cam Waters - 2551 pts

5. Thomas Randle - 2032 pts

Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.

Sign up for our emails