Brown qualifies 19th for must-win Sandown race as Payne takes pole
Only four of seven Supercars title contenders will advance to the Adelaide grand final, with race winners guaranteed a place.
Will Brown faces a start from 19th position in the Sandown 500’s 79-lap, 250km race, which he must win to reach the Supercars championship grand final in Adelaide. Championship leader Matt Payne claimed pole by 0.1 seconds.
Brown, the 2024 champion driving for Triple Eight Race Engineering, finished Saturday’s race in 20th place. His qualifying attempt ended in the opening segment after a tyre gamble left him with only two laps to set a time.
Payne secured his second successive pole with the final run of the top-10 shootout. Anton De Pasquale, sixth in the championship standings and also needing a Sunday victory, qualified second ahead of Cooper Murray, who is not a title finalist.
Cam Waters will start 18th. The fifth-ranked Tickford Racing driver trails Broc Feeney by one point and needs a win or podium finish to advance. Chaz Mostert, third in the standings, missed the shootout and qualified 11th.
Sandown is the second-last round of the finals series. Seven drivers entered the weekend in title contention, but only four will progress. Each race winner receives an automatic place in Adelaide; the three lowest-ranked contenders without a victory will be eliminated.
Saturday winner Brodie Kostecki qualified fourth, ahead of Matt Stone Racing’s Zach Bates. Feeney will start sixth.
