Will Brown wins eventful race at Townsville to claim championship lead

Will Brown won the first Supercars Championship race of the weekend at Townsville to claim the points lead from team-mate Brodie Kostecki who had a tough race.

Reigning champion Shane van Gisbergen made the best start from the second row and challenged Brown for the lead into Turn 1.

The two came together, allowing Cameron Waters to claim the lead ahead of Broc Feeney. Brown dropped to fourth while Triple Eight driver van Gisbergen fell down to 14th.

Brown worked his way up to second early in the race and put pressure on Waters for the lead, making the move stick on lap 23.

The safety car appeared in the last part of the race as Todd Hazelwood stopped on track due to a technical issue.

The field was released with 16 laps left of the race, with Brown heading Feeney and Waters.

Walkinshaw Andretti United driver Chaz Mostert was on a charge in the final part of the race, climbing from ninth place after the safety car restart to finish a strong third.

Brown won the race by more than three seconds over Feeney, with Mostert a close third.

Chevrolet Camaro driver van Gisbergen made his way back up to fourth place ahead of Waters, with Scott Pye rounding off the top six.

Brown heads Kostecki, who finished 19th, by 43 points and Feeney by 44.

Next up is qualifying for Race 17, starting at 10:20 local time/02:00 CEST.