QUEENSLAND formula 500 driver Mitchell “Charlie” Brown is the man to catch when Speedweek hits Allansford’s Premier Speedway.
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Brown, 21, has 312 points from the first two meetings of the popular series, at Mount Gambier on Saturday night and Hamilton on Sunday night.
He is two ahead of Geelong driver James Aranyosi, 310, while Purnim teenager Chris Bellman is third with 277 points.
Round three of the series is at Premier Speedway tomorrow night, running alongside round five of World Series Sprintcars.
Brown, driving his Hyper chassis Q7, said he was rapt to have an early lead.
The young hard charger won round one and ran third, behind Tasmanian Brad Freeman, in round two.
Brown put the early success down to a new Yamaha R6 motor, built by Warrnambool’s Stephen Bell.
“The win in the first round, I was stoked with that and to run third last night, you have to be happy with that,” he said.
“It’s a fresh motor. We first ran it at Mount Gambier. I’m really happy with the motor and the car speed. Hopefully we can continue with that.”
Brown said he was taking a semi-cautious approach to his racing, aware Speedweek titles were built on consistency.
“You’ve got to remember in the back of your head it’s a long series, anything can happen,” he said.
“You have to be consistent and be in it at the end of every race.
“Not conservative, but you’ve got to keep your nose clean and finish every race.”
He nominated Aranyosi, the 2012 Australian title runner-up, as his biggest threat.
“It’s a bit unfortunate there are no Americans but that’s the way it goes,” he said.
“You’ve always got the local guys there. It’s their home tracks.
“There is always one car who stands out who you didn’t expect would be quick.
“James Aranyosi, he’s been fairly quick both rounds we’ve had so far. He’s definitely the one.”
Other Speedweek rounds are at Laang on January 2, Darlington on January 3 and Simpson on January 4.
The series finishes back at Premier Speedway on January 5, a meeting which carries the rescheduled Jack Willsher Cup.