Red Bull Ampol Racing’s Will Brown has flagged an interest in the open-wheel series, fresh off announcing he will compete in the Formula Regional Oceania Championship.
Brown will contest three rounds of the New Zealand series at Taupo, Hampton Downs, and Highlands.
Could it spur a vacation to the United States? Brown won’t rule it out.
“I’ll take anything that comes at me,” the 26-year-old said, speaking with Stuff.
“Obviously all of these transitions to try and do one-off races in NASCAR, or if it was one day IndyCar, isn’t easy.
“Not saying that it’s an opportunity or anything, but I’d always say yes to any opportunity that came my way.”
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Brown has proven himself to be versatile.
In his junior career, he was a title winner in the GR Cup (then Toyota 86 series) and Formula 4 in the same year and runner-up in Formula Ford.
He’s since plied his trade in Supercars with a side of GT3 racing, a one-off NASCAR start, and a TCR title in Australia.
It’s been more than five years since Brown has driven an open-wheel car in a competitive setting.
The Triple Eight Race Engineering driver said his upcoming cameo in the Formula 3-based series will give him a chance to gauge himself.
“I think racing in this category, open wheelers, probably does give me another go to see how I go in them, so I can make a call from there,” said Brown.
McLaughlin’s move from Supercars to IndyCar came by way of Roger Penske, who had a stake in the Dick Johnson Racing team (then DJR Team Penske).
McLaughlin left Australia at the end of 2020 to take up the single-seater series full-time with Team Penske, where he has raced ever since.
Whether Brown could make a switch to IndyCar remains unclear with no obvious links to the series beyond a manufacturer alliance.
Triple Eight are the Chevrolet homologation team in Supercars. Chevrolet also supplies engines in IndyCar.
Brown’s closest link to the series is Will Power, who was born in his hometown of Toowoomba.
“He grew up 500 metres down the road from me, pretty much on the same street,” said Brown.
“It’s pretty cool, it’s definitely something I’ve watched and something I’d be interested in having a go at.”
The Formula Regional Oceania Championship begins on January 10-12 at Taupo before moving to Hampton Downs on January 17-19. Manfeild hosts the mid-way point on January 24-26.
Teretonga marks the penultimate round of the season on January 31-February 2 before the finale at Highlands on February 7-9 for the New Zealand Grand Prix.
The three-round program also paves the way for Brown to compete in the Bathurst 12 Hour, given he will miss the Teretonga round.
Live coverage of the NextGen New Zealand Championship will be live and free on the Stuff SpeedHub.
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