At the February 2015 New Zealand rowing championships, Brake competed in three boat classes and won his first national title in the premier men category. With the U22 coxless four, he won gold. With the premier eight, he came fourth. He picked up his first premier title with the coxed four, with different team members to those he won silver with at the world championships the previous year. He was called into the elite team for the year and went to the 2015 World Rowing Cups II and III with the eight, in Varese (Italy) and at the Swiss Rotsee, respectively. They came fourth in Italy and won bronze in Switzerland. At the 2015 World Rowing Championships, the men's eight was beaten for a bronze medal by the Netherlands by 0.13 seconds. This result qualified this boat class for the 2016 Rio Olympics.