Adelaide 500: A bit of banter with his teammate Broc Feeney is the perfect preparation for Supercars’ championship leader Will Brown

The Supercars championship is down to a race in two, teammates in fact, and for the man with an 180 point lead he is keeping the mood jovial, even joking about the one thing that would be disaster for his team during the Adelaide 500 this weekend.

Series leader Will Brown is never one to shy away from a bit of banter and the build-up to his championship-deciding final-round Battle of the Bulls with teammate Broc Feeney at the Adelaide 500 has been no different.

“We have definitely joked about taking each other out,” Brown said ahead of the Supercars season finale on the streets of Adelaide.

“I’m always on for a laugh and there are always those jokes getting thrown around and a bit of banter.”

But the laid-back Toowoomba pilot won’t let banter get in the way of business as he aims to underline an impressive first campaign for Triple Eight by securing the 2024 championship win this weekend.

Only two drivers remain in contention for the Supercars championship leading into the final round, with Brown holding a 180-point lead over his teammate Feeney with 150 points on offer for the winner in each of the final two races in Adelaide.

Brown is in the box seat to claim his maiden title win after an unblemished season in which he has so far finished on the podium at every round.

Will Brown holds an 180-point lead in the Supercars championship heading into the final round in Adelaide. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

While Feeney is not out of the fight, the young gun will need to outscore Brown by 30 points or more in Saturday’s race to keep the title battle alive on Sunday.

Despite his commanding position, Brown, 26, does not have the champagne on ice just yet.

“It’s cool to be in the position we’re in, but I’m not getting ahead of myself,” Brown said.

“I have been in the sport for a while now and I’ve learned to never get ahead of yourself.

“I’m just treating it the same as any other weekend and trying to win a race.

“At the end of the day, there is still two race wins on the table and I would like to win some more races before the end of the year, so that’s what I’m going there to do.”

Recruited to replace triple Supercars champion turned NASCAR racer Shane van Gisbergen, Brown made an immediate impact in the opening two rounds with Triple Eight when he won two races and finished second four times.

Since then, he has been a picture of consistency and only had one race – the second leg in Townsville – when he finished outside of the top 10.

Overall, Feeney has one more race wins (five) than Brown for the season and has also out-qualified his teammate.

Brown said the pair had pushed each other all season and expected the on-track battle to be “hard but fair” in Adelaide this weekend.

“I’m sure if we’re together on the track, we’ll race hard but fair,” Brown said.

“At the end of the day, the team has said the same thing, ‘You can race hard, but just don’t run into each other’.

Will Brown and teammate Broc Feeney are the last two drivers in contention in the Supercars title fight. Picture: Kerry Marshall/Getty Images

“And that has always been the case with us. I’m sure Broc will be trying to beat me and I’m sure I’ll be trying to do the same. It will be respectful.

“Broc has been great to work with all year, I feel like we have been respectful and raced well together all year.

“To both be in this scenario where it’s one of the Bulls that is going to win is what we have worked towards and why we have worked together so well.

“It is exciting that it has paid off.”

Brown watched on as his former Erebus motorsport teammate Brodie Kostecki went on to clinch the Supercars title last year, having led the championship himself midway through last season.

But Brown felt like he had elevated his performances this year.

“I don’t like to say that I expected to be in this position but at the end of the day, I think that last year I had a great year and I joined Triple Eight to put myself in this exact position,” Brown said.

Broc Feeney and Will Brown speaking to the media. Picture: Kerry Marshall/Getty Images

“This is where I wanted to be, this was always the dream, but it’s exciting to actually be here.

“It’s something that I definitely strived for this year is to put myself in the position to be fighting for the championship at the end of the year.

“I feel like I’ve done a better job this year from a driving point of view and that’s been great.

“I wanted to step it up, I think I did a good job last year, but I wanted to step it up this year and I feel like I have done that.”

Will Brown driver after winning this year’s Sandown 500. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

Brown will have family and friends from Toowoomba in Adelaide for the season finale and said sealing the championship would be the realisation of a childhood dream.

“I guess at the end of the day, since I was a 12 year old kid and started go karting, I have worked towards this and it’s pretty cool,” Brown said.

“Not everyone gets the opportunity in their career to try and win a championship and be there at the final round.

“So either way it goes, it’s pretty cool to be in that situation.”

Originally published as Adelaide 500: A bit of banter with his teammate Broc Feeney is the perfect preparation for Supercars’ championship leader Will Brown