WILL Brown expected Anton De Pasquale to give him more racing room on the opening lap of the Adelaide 500, but holds no hard feelings towards his Ford rival.
Brown was elbowed into the wall by the Shell Mustang on the exit of Turn 4 and was subsequently collected by an unsighted Shane van Gisbergen.
Damage ruled the cars of Brown and van Gisbergen out of the race, while De Pasquale continued in fourth-place before eventually dropping back with steering damage.
The incident means Brodie Kostecki now only has to finish today’s race to put the championship title beyond van Gisbergen’s grasp.
Brown’s third place in the standings, meanwhile, is now in serious doubt having entered the race just nine points ahead of Broc Feeney.
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“It’s just one of those things. Everyone blocks on the inside and if you can’t make it up the inside, you know everyone banks up,” said Brown.
“So I went for the outside, I knew I had good overlap, I would have tucked in behind him if I wasn’t at least completely next to him.
“I thought he’d be able to see me and know I was completely there but obviously not. I’m not going to judge it too much.
“He probably thought he was just going to run me a little bit wide, and I ended up in the fence that hard and unfortunately took out one of the championship leaders as well.
“Tough day, I think we had a fast car for today, it’s a bit disappointing, but in the end that’s racing, there’s not much I can do about it.
“Obviously Shane just couldn’t see when Cam was there and just ran up the back of me.
“Disappointing, I think I probably should have been left a little bit more room there. I reckon I was completely up the outside and he could see me, but it is what it is.
“Anton is not a bad bloke, everyone does that every now and then, it is what it is.”
Championship drama on the opening lap! 😵😵 Shane van Gisbergen is OUT after contact with Will Brown ❌#RepcoSC #7Motorsport pic.twitter.com/Ko5IyGil6N
— 7Sport (@7Sport) November 25, 2023
Triple Eight boss Jamie Whincup conceded that van Gisbergen’s misfortune was in part a result of qualifying a relatively lacklustre sixth.
The Red Bull team has had a troubled weekend to date, with the Kiwi’s teammate Feeney missing the Shootout entirely.
“It was unfortunate, but when you qualify sixth and 11 you’re exposed to stuff like this happening and that’s what happened,” he said.
“We’ll see what we’ll see but it’s pretty much all done for us unfortunately.”
Whincup declared van Gisbergen’s car will be repaired for Sunday’s race, while Erebus may well have to balance title celebrations with a major effort on Brown’s mangled machine.
“I think it’s going to test the team,” said Erebus CEO Barry Ryan.
“I think it’s going to be the biggest Gen3 repair so far. I’m tipping an all-nighter but we’ll get it fixed no matter what.”
Both squads also have an eye on the teams’ championship, which Erebus leads by 170 points.
“It’s unfortunate for Will’s car but lucky one of the Red Bull cars is out as well, so for the teams’ championship it’s still OK,” Ryan said.
“Brodie has just got to finish the race. I don’t really care if he comes last now, he’s just got to finish the race.”
