Supercars 2024: All the news, results and analysis from the Gold Coast 500

A qualifying crash has thrown the Supercars title race wide open as three of Will Brown’s biggest rivals took advantage of his mishap on the Gold Coast.

Will Brown qualifying crash blows race wide open

Tickford star Cam Waters will start on pole for Saturday’s Gold Coast 500 after edging out Richie Stanway and Chaz Mostert in the Top Ten Shootout.

Waters kept his faint Supercars title hopes alive with a masterful lap of the Surfers Paradise street circuit, clinching his sixth pole position of the season and 28th of his career.

His 1:11.058 was enough to take ownership of the first row of the grid and he will fancy his chances of converting the pole into a victory, just as he did here last year.

Earlier, the Supercars title fight was blown wide open when championship leader Will Brown put his Red Bull into the wall at turn 11 during qualifying and was scrubbed out of the Top Ten Shootout contention.

Brown will start 11th for the race – a precarious position to be in given the propensity for chaos in the concrete canyon of Surfers Paradise.

Chaz Mostert rides the curb.

Meanwhile the chasing pack are all up the front, headed by fourth-ranked Waters who will have championship No.3 Chaz Mostert and No.2 Broc Feeney right behind him on the second row of the grid.

Feeney and Mostert in particular will be eager to place themselves on the podium and bridge the gap to Brown in the championship battle with a further three races to go after Saturday’s 85-lapper.

Friday’s practice pace setter Thomas Randle will start fifth on the grid, followed by James Golding, James Courtney, David Reynolds and Matt Payne.

Reigning champion Brodie Kostecki will start 10th after his flying lap was struck from contention due to a kerb strike at turn eight.

The decision to turn off the kerb sensors at turns two and nine made life much easier for drivers after Friday’s practice was plagued by more than 300 kerb strikes across the two sessions.

QUALIFYING CRASH BLOWS CHAMPIONSHIP RACE WIDE OPEN

The Supercars championship race has been blown wide open after title leader Will Brown crashed out in qualifying on Saturday morning.

Brown locked his rear wheels entering turn 11 and spun into the barriers, bringing out a red flag and ending the session early.

The championship leader sat in seventh at the time of the crash but because he was the one to bring out the red flag, his lap was scrubbed out meaning he will miss the top 10 shootout in the afternoon.

Will Brown inspects the damage to his car.

It means Brown will start from 11th on the grid for Saturday’s race, leaving him vulnerable on a street circuit known to cause chaos.

“I’ve been locking rears the last two sessions and just thought I’d get a turn but didn’t,” Brown said.

“Unfortunately I took a couple of other cars out of their quali. Sorry to them. These things happen, it’s Gold Coast. These things happen and we’ll press on.”

Red Bull is now in a race against the clock to get Brown’s Camaro patched up for the 85-lapper this afternoon.

THIS IS CHAMPIONSHIP-CHANGING STUFF 🤯#RepcoSC#Supercarspic.twitter.com/UoOEjhiyBe

— Supercars (@supercars) October 26, 2024

Tim Slade and Nick Percat were also caught up in the chaos when they arrived at the corner and were unable to avoid Brown’s Red Bull.

Richie Stanway was the surprise timesheet topper after the late red flag drama, clocking a 1:10.444 to edge out Chaz Mostert and Cam Waters.

Brown’s teammate and championship contender Broc Feeney put himself into fifth.

It means Brown is the only driver still in title contention who will not feature in the top 10 shootout.

Originally published as Supercars 2024: All the news, results and analysis from the Gold Coast 500