Supercars champion Will Brown to “take on the world” at Race Of Champions in Sydney
Reigning Supercars champion Will Brown is the latest Australian driver set to “take on the world” at the 2025 Race Of Champions to be held at Accor Stadium in Sydney from March 7-8.
Brown, who is part of Red Bull Ampol Racing, will join his team owner and seven-time Supercars champion Jamie Whincup as one of the Australian drivers getting the opportunity to compete in identical machinery against some of the biggest names in global motorsport at the unique ROC event which will be held in the Southern Hemisphere for the first time.
Rally ace and former Extreme E champion Molly Taylor has also been announced as part of Team Australia and the final member of the “local” teams will be announced in the lead up to the big event when final pairings will also be confirmed.
Brown clinched his maiden Supercars Championship in Adelaide last month after becoming the first driver since Dick Johnson in 1984 to claim a podium finish in every event of the season.
The Race Of Champions comes two weeks after the 2025 Supercars opener at Sydney Motorsport Park (Feb 21-23) and one week before the opening round of the F1 World Championship in Melbourne (March 13-16) – creating a massive month of motorsport in Australia.
In Sydney, Brown and his Team Australia teammates will be going head to head with no less than four-time Formula 1 World Champion, Sebastian Vettel; current F1 ace Valtteri Bottas; nine-time FIA World Rally Champion, Sebastien Loeb; 11-time X-Games Gold medalist, Travis Pastrana; 7-time FIA World Rallycross Champion, Johan Kristoffersson; former FIA F2 champion and F1 driver, Mick Schumacher and two-time European Rally Champion, Kiwi, Hayden Paddon.
Brown, from Toowoomba in Queensland, started his career in karts and laid the foundation for this car career in 2016 when he won both the national Formula 4 and Toyota 86 championships.
In the impending years he proved his versatility by winning his class in a MARC II V8 at the Bathurst 12-hour in 2017 and 2018 and then the national TCR Championship in a Hyundai in 2019.
He was second in the Dunlop Super2 Supercars Series in 2020 for Image Racing before joining Erebus Motorsport.
He moved to Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Red Bull Ampol Racing this season and finished third at the Bathurst 1000 with Scott Pye before winning his maiden title ahead of teammate Broc Feeney.
To date his Supercars career has included 124 races for nine wins, 31 podiums and six pole positions.
Brown again proved his versatility earlier this year when he travelled to the US and competed in a NASCAR Cup Series event at Sonoma Raceway in California where he qualified 24th and finished 31st after an electrical issue with his Richard Childress Chevrolet forced him out of contention.
What Will Brown said:
“I grew up watching the Race Of Champions and always thought it was such a cool event with so many great stars of the sport,” said Brown.
“To be invited to represent Australia together with Jamie (Whincup) and Molly (Taylor) for the first ever ROC event in this country is a little surreal to be honest and really caps off what has been an incredible year for me.
“Jamie has done a couple of ROC events before, so I will be picking his brain on what to expect and to get a few tips.”
“I am sure he will be helpful when we are racing for Australia on the Friday night, but I am not so sure he will be that available when we are going head-to-head for the Champion of Champions trophy the following night.”
“There has already been an incredible list of drivers announced and I know there are a few more surprises to come.”
“I think Australian race fans are in for an amazing experience and I cannot wait to not only compete for my country, but to do it in the Sydney Olympic Stadium in front of a home crowd.”
What Fredrik Johnsson, Race Of Champions President and Co-Founder, said:
“Supercars is one of the most competitive categories of motorsport in the world and to have the reigning champion as part of Race Of Champions, especially in Sydney, is fantastic,” said Johnsson.
“Will (Brown) is obviously a wonderful talent and to have him as one of the drivers representing Host Nation Australia beside his team boss and seven-time Supercars champion Jamie Whincup is pretty special.”
“Will has proven time and again his versatility as a driver in a range of machinery and that will certainly place him in good position for an event like Race Of Champions.”
“I am sure he will be a crowd favourite in a field full of ‘favourites’.”
WILL BROWN – CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
2016 – 1st Australian Formula 4 Championship
2016 – 1st Australian Toyota 86 Championship
2017 – Mike Kable Young Gun award; Peter Brock Medal
2017-2018 – 1st in class Bathurst 12 Hour MARC II V8
2019 – 1st TCR Championship
2020 – 2nd Dunlop Super2 Series
2024 – 1st Supercars Championship (podium in every event)