Will Brown was eager to see how far he could vault up the grid in the Top 10 Shootout for the Great Race but understands the decision to cancel it.
The Erebus Motorsport driver qualified 10th on Friday afternoon and had the most to gain in the one-lap dash at Mount Panorama where he would have been first out on track.
However, Brown’s chance would never come with the shootout abandoned due to wet weather.
“I was keen to get out there, I thought it would be a bit of fun,” Brown told Speedcafe.com.
“There was always that risk factor, it was obviously extremely wet; definitely excited to get out there but you can also see why they made the decision that they did as well.
“I think we had fairly good wet pace — I don’t really know, being the guinea pig first out the gate, it’s very hard to know how hard to push.
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“Not really sure; I think that we might have been able to pop it inside the top seven.
“It’s a long race tomorrow, it’s 1000km, so I’m sure we’ll be alright still starting from 10th still in that front half of the field.”
While the 40-minute qualifying hit-out proved decisive, there was a chance the #9 ZB Commodore of Brown/Jack Perkins may have missed that session.
The Toowoomba native found the wall in Practice 4 at the top of the Mountain, although the car was spared chassis damage.
Both Erebus entries will start tomorrow’s Repco Bathurst 1000 from inside the top 10, with the #99 of Brodie Kostecki/David Russell in ninth.
“After the crash, we probably didn’t even think we could get back out there,” added Brown.
“It was just cool to be back inside that top 10.
“The shootout is always awesome here; cool to make it a second year in a row.
“I guess it’s only two times we have really got to qualify, me and Brodie, and to both make the shootout is really cool.
“It was trying conditions but keen just to get out there tomorrow.”
Warm Up for the Supercars Championship begins at 08:00 local time/AEDT tomorrow ahead of the 161-lap race at 11:15.
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