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Will Brown has heaped praise on his team-mate Brodie Kostecki after letting him through to fight for, and eventually get, a podium finish in Race 26.
The final stanza of the race after the sole Safety Car period saw Shell V-Power Racing Team driver Anton De Pasquale lead Red Bull Ampol Racing duo Shane van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup.
Kostecki, who took four tyres at his stop, restarted the race in 10th while Brown, who was also shod with four fresh tyres, was 12th.
The Erebus Motorsport pair quickly picked off those ahead of them, Kostecki ranging up on Whincup with six laps to go.
Try as he might, Kostecki couldn’t find a way past Whincup.
As the pair battled, Brown came into the picture, so with four laps to go Kostecki moved across to let his team-mate mount an attack.
One lap later and the #9 Holden ZB Commodore pilot pounced with a move at Turn 6.
Brown would stretch his legs to come home third while Whincup held off Kostecki, finishing fourth and fifth respectively.
“It was awesome,” said Brown of his second Repco Supercars Championship podium of the season.
“The start wasn’t too bad. Those last couple of laps, thanks to my team-mate – I’ve got the best team-mate in the world – so that was awesome.
“To get past Jamie and get on the podium was fantastic. I wish it was a few laps longer.
“You can see we’re doing it as a team: me and Brodie there and the whole team, it was fantastic.
“They’ve worked tirelessly and I’m just pumped, Erebus is a really happy place right now.”
The four-round swing in Sydney has been plagued week-on-week by pit stop problems for Brown.
In the two incidents prior to this weekend, the problems ultimately cost him a shot at victory.
Brown would once again suffer a slow pit stop in Race 26, albeit not as bad as the previous two occasions.
With a podium in the bag, the 23-year-old was quick to brush off the blunder.
“We’ll forget it now we’re on the podium,” said Brown.
“I was a bit disappointed, but it is what it is, we kept racing and pressed on.
“On the podium, we can’t be unhappy.”
Back-to-back qualifying sessions tomorrow, the first starting at 11:45 local time/AEDT, will set the grid for Race 27 and Race 28.
