Will Brown has driven to a commanding Supercars victory in race 8 at Perth, heading home teammate Brodie Kostecki for an Erebus one-two.
James Courtney drove a clean, calm race for a well-deserved podium, making up for a hard run of luck that peaked with his car catching fire in Melbourne.
It was also a solid showing from the three New Zealand drivers, Shane van Gisbergen being the best of the lot to finish fifth. Matt Payne came in home ninth, one spot ahead of Andre Heimgartner.
It was as calm and commanding a victory as they come for Brown, the #9 Erebus driver pulling clear of David Reynolds off pole to take the lead into Turn 1, building a lead on the field behind.
Kostecki was able to pick off Reynolds at Turn 7 on Lap 1, moving to second spot and leaving the Mustang within reach of Shell V-Power’s Anton De Pasquale. As De Pasquale attempted a pass for third on lap 2, however, he locked up into Turn 7 and punted the series veteran wide.
Both cars dropped down the order, with De Pasquale awarded a 15-second penalty for the contact.
Van Gisbergen had quietly picked off places in the pack, passing Payne on Lap 22 before the rookie boxed the following lap.
Once the field had all stopped, Brown retained the lead over his teammate, with Courtney also returning to third. That was how the podium places remained, with Chaz Mostert earning a hard-driven fourth ahead of van Gisbergen, who managed a late pass on Will Davison for position.
Todd Hazelwood and Cam Waters both drove forward from their starting grid positions of 11th and 15th, respectively, both managing to pass Payne in the dying stages to give Hazelwood seventh and Waters eighth.
Clear air helped Payne maintain his position on fading tyres, the young Kiwi once again the best of the rookies in ninth.
Heimgartner also drove well to finish 10th, an improvement of four places on his qualifying result of 14th.
Broc Feeney was one of the biggest movers, driving from 21st to 13th, while Reynolds couldn’t recover from his early contact with De Pasquale and finished 14th. Once De Pasquale’s 15-second penalty was served, he returned to the track to come home 22nd, having started third.
Supercars return for race 9 this evening, which begins at 7.45 pm.
Header Image: Supercars
