Imagine for a minute that motor racing could be added, retrospectively, to the 2024 Olympic Games. Each country would be able to send four drivers to compete across a range of disciplines. With this in mind, I am giving readers the chance to be a selector; who would you choose for Team GB?
But before you nominate Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and George Russell as three-quarters of the next British Dream Team, here is the wrinkle I am adding to the mix; you can only choose one driver from any single category. Hmm…
My crew? Being Australian, I’m going to start with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. Not a tough choice, given the form he is in. Next, come on down, IndyCar’s Will Power. A veteran, to be sure, but fast as heck and I rate his sandpaper-dry sense of humour. Then, Porsche World Endurance ace Matt Campbell. A quick, versatile addition to the mix.
And to make up my fast four, I’ll pick Triple Eight Supercars ace Will Brown. Over much of this season, the 26-year-old Aussie has been the man most of the pack have been chasing. And he heads to wintry Symmons Plains this weekend leading the championship points.
That in itself is remarkable. His eighth (2021), 14th (2022) and fifth (2023) in the Supercars championship were achieved with Erebus Motorsport. Even if, under the new-for-2023 Gen3 technical regulations, all the cars are more similar than ever before, swapping teams during the off-season and racing three different Supercars in three seasons is not a simple process.
Yet that is just how Brown has made it look. In the opening 16 races of this campaign, he’s banked 13 podium finishes, including three wins. Team-mate Broc Feeney has more wins (five), but this is his third year with the team and second in one of its Chevrolet Camaros. Brown’s consistency has been startling.
Consider too that he has had to forge a relationship with his race engineer Andrew Edwards, who had spent two years working alongside Shane van Gisbergen. On the other side of the garage, Feeney works with Martin Short – a pairing that first worked together on the way to winning the Super2 title in 2021.
Brown’s adaptability would come as no surprise to anyone who saw him win Australia’s Formula 4 and Toyota 86 Racing Series titles, and finish second in Formula Ford, in the same year (2016). He has also won (and finished second) in the TCR Australian touring car series and currently sits second in the GT World Challenge Australia, co-driving an Audi R8 GT3.
In light of the suggestions that he might soon be turning his sights to a career in NASCAR, Brown’s ability to adapt appears to be a calling card that team owners would value. And that begs an interesting question; given that he has already made his Cup Series debut with Richard Childress Racing at Sonoma Raceway this season, how long will Brown stay in his current seat?
It may well be for some time because, historically, long tenures tend to be canon at Triple Eight. Even if his role is much diminished these days to Wildcard appearances in the Supercars endurance races, Craig Lowndes is now in his 20th season as a T8 driver. Jamie Whincup was a full-time driver from 2006 to 2021 before stepping into an ownership/management role, though he is set to resume his co-driving role in the enduros alongside Feeney next month. Van Gisbergen stayed for eight seasons before the North Carolina-accented sirens’ call of NASCAR drew him to America.
Racing three different Supercars in three seasons is not a simple process
The combination of a competitive car and, presumably, a lucrative contract in a heavily sponsored team to go with it is one most drivers would jump at. At 26, it would have to be an awfully good opportunity for Brown to look elsewhere, though the list of drivers who would be keen to take his seat should he do so would not be short. But a NASCAR opportunity might be enough to turn his head. Should it come to that, T8’s peerless talent-spotters will need to find another Feeney, who has done an admirable job since replacing Whincup.
One way in which Brown is different to van Gisbergen is this: in his time racing in Australia, SVG’s default setting was not to be especially outspoken in the media – his efforts to be more open with the US media are testament to how much he is putting into his NASCAR endeavour. But Brown is naturally more garrulous. If he has something to say, he tends to say it. So far, he has done so without making too many enemies.
In all, Whincup and his team’s partners could hardly have hoped that anyone could do a better job in their first year in Red Bull colours – though there is a long way to go in the Supercars season.
So there it is; I’m putting Brown in green and gold and into the Olympic team. What do you think? In my hypothetical Olympic competition, are the Aussies a medal chance, ahead of Team GB? Maybe, maybe not. But let’s be honest – just as we do in rugby, we’re probably all going to get flogged by Team New Zealand. Aren’t we?
