The Supercars champion was presented the ‘Keys to the Region’ by Toowoomba Lord Mayor Geoff McDonald in a special ceremony on Thursday morning.

He is just the fifth person to ever receive the honour and the second to do so for achievements in motorsport, along with IndyCar legend Will Power.

The other recipients are Alyssa Azar, an adventurer who was once the youngest person to climb Mount Everest, and Haruo and Mitsuki Ishida from Takatsuki, Toowoomba’s sister city in Japan, who received the key together.

Brown is a proud resident of his home town and runs multiple businesses in the region, something he plans to continue despite his Supercars success.

“I used to think that it was a thing that was a bit of a joke and it wasn’t something you could get,” Brown said of the key.

“To receive it today, it’s a privilege. I love living in Toowoomba, it’s cool to receive it.”

McDonald spoke glowingly of Brown and how he represents the Queensland city.

“This is a really special occasion, it seriously is,” he said.

“It’s only the fourth key to the city that’s been presented. It is the highest honour that can be bestowed onto a community member. This will hopefully inspire others in whatever field they are in to keep improving and doing the best they can.

“As the season unfolded you could see that something special was unfolding. I reached out to Will on a number of occasions before races and wished him well on behalf of all of our community. Hopefully that helped in some way to know that there are some many people behind him.

“This is more than the sport. It’s more than his achievements on the track, it’s what he does off the track. The fact that he remembers where he’s from. He always mentions Toowoomba and the Toowoomba region. He loves where he lives, loves to come back here and the fans love him.

“Someone who is an ambassador for our region, an upstanding citizen, doing great things, is someone who deserves the key to the city.”

The honour comes amid a busy January for Brown, who has already competed in two rounds of the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship in New Zealand, while also heading to Perth to test the Arise Racing Ferrari that he’ll drive at the Bathurst 12 Hour in just over a week.