Brown sealed his first Supercars Championship title at last weekend’s Adelaide 500, having entered the event with teammate Broc Feeney as his only rival.
The 26-year-old Brown’s season, which included a podium at every round, was an emphatic answer to critics of Triple Eight’s decision to hire the former Erebus Motorsport driver.
Triple Eight targeted Brown, then under a multi-year contract to Erebus, in mid-2023 when it became clear that van Gisbergen wanted to head to the United States.
Brown endured a shocking second half of 2023 while van Gisbergen teamed with Richie Stanaway to win the Bathurst 1000.
Speaking at Monday night’s Supercars Gala Awards in Adelaide, Dutton declared that “we went for personality” with the driver choice.
“We’ve got the two best blokes – I might be biased – in pit lane with Broc and Will,” he said. “They’re such legends, just how well Will became part of the team.
“That was the deciding factor when we were looking for who we wanted to replace such a legend in Shane.
“How do you fill those boots? Obviously, you need speed, you need the whole package, but it came down to personality. And hasn’t he delivered?”
Brown’s jovial personality is widely celebrated and often compared to that of Craig Lowndes.
However, the team had to deal with the potential issue of two determined young guns going head-to-head, rather than the offset age dynamics of past Triple Eight line-ups.
Asked what he is most proud of from the season as he accepted the Teams Championship trophy, Dutton said: “Just how well they’ve worked as a team.
“They recognised really early on that they were each other’s rivals.
“That was a bit hard for me to accept, because I like everyone cuddling and being a family. So, to verbalise that so early on, which Will brought in, was a change for us. But we adapted.
“There was a little bit of ‘OK, well you’re talking a little bit too much on the radio, wind that back a bit’, so we tried to tune him up a bit.
“But no, we tried to learn from him. We’re always learning, and both grew off each other. The engineers, the pit crew, the mechanics, everyone back home, everyone lifted this year.”
Brown thanked the Triple Eight team and its ownership group during his champion’s speech at the Gala, as well as giving special mention to Feeney.
“He did a fantastic job all year, really pushed me along. It wouldn’t have been what it was without a great teammate like Broc,” he said.
Brown had, though, opened in a typically tongue-in-cheek style.
“Firstly, I probably need to thank the most important person that made this year what it was and got me the drive,” he said.
“Thanks to Shane van Gisbergen for pissing off to NASCAR. I really appreciate that. They can keep him.”
