Erebus names Le Brocq as Brown Supercars replacement

The news follows confirmation earlier today that Le Brocq will depart Matt Stone Racing at the end of the current campaign.

The 31-year-old, who scored his second victory in Supercars at Hidden Valley in June, is now locked in at Erebus alongside championship leader Brodie Kostecki for 2024.

He becomes the latest domino to fall in the driver market amid Shane van Gisbergen's impending switch to NASCAR.

Le Brocq has long ties to Erebus, having ran in F3 and Australian GT as an Erebus Academy driver early in his career. He also made his main game Supercars debut as an Erebus enduro co-driver in 2015.

“We have witnessed Jack’s journey and some of his achievements firsthand, and we’re thrilled to welcome him back to the family,” Erebus CEO Barry Ryan said.
 


“Obviously, we still have five rounds remaining this season, and right now our focus in on winning the drivers’ and teams’ championship.”
 


Remarking on his return to the Erebus fold, Le Brocq said: “Erebus is a team that has been instrumental in my career, and I am excited to re-join them next season.


“I look forward to contributing to Erebus’ ongoing success in 2024, though my immediate focus is on giving my all for the remainder of the 2023 season with my current team.”

Jack Le Brocq, Matt Stone Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Photo by: Edge Photographics

Elsewhere, Richie Stanaway has signed the deal that will see him make a full-time return to Supercars with Grove Racing amid a frantic Supercars silly season.

It appears that the deal is now complete, with Stanaway to partner fellow Kiwi Matt Payne at the Ford squad next season. The deal is expected to be announced early next week.

Stanaway will replace Team 18-bound David Reynolds at Grove Racing, with Reynolds set to replace Scott Pye next season.

Ryan opens up on 'gutting' Brown defection

Reflecting on Brown's departure for Triple Eight, Ryan admitted the fierce rivalry between the two squads competing for both the drivers' and teams' titles has made Brown's call a difficult one to take.

Brown recently negotiated an early exit from his Erebus contract, which was set to run until the end of next season.

“Imagine you’ve got kids, and your kid comes up to you and goes, ‘you know that family you hate up the road? I’m going to go and live with them,” he said.

“That’s how it feels. I can deal with it, but that’s how it feels. I’m gutted; he’s like my little brother and it’s like he’s moved down the road.

“But, we’ll get through it, we’ll get on with it professionally, a 100 per cent, and we’ll always be mates.

“It’s just, he’ll be the one I hate next year. Not hate, [but] everybody in pitlane’s my enemy. That’s the only way I can deal with racing and stuff, and making sure that our team is the best team in pitlane.

Will Brown, Erebus Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Photo by: Edge Photographics

“He’s going to the enemy next year but this year he’s our mate, so we’ll press on like nothing’s happened. He’s a fun kid to have around, he’s in the garage today, they’re all having fun, with him, it’s the same team as it was when we left Sydney. It’s just, unfortunately, next year he’s not going to be here.”

Brown's move comes after a rapid start to the Gen3 era for Erebus, which has been at least a match for powerhouse Triple Eight this season. According to Ryan, Brown's motivation is to be at what is seen as the best "brand" in Supercars, rather than the best team.

“It’s disappointing,” he remarked. “I’m not angry or anything, I’m just disappointed, because we put a lot of effort into Will.

“But like I said to the boys today, once you sleep on it for a bit, you go, he’s gone to a brand. We’re the best team in pitlane at the moment, so he hasn’t gone to a better team, he’s gone to a better brand.

“So, we need to do more on our brand, and make sure we get to a point where we are like Triple Eight and we’ve won multiple championships, we’ve got big brands behind us – which we have – and we’ve just got to tick a few more boxes that make the drivers was to stay.

“Will’s made a personal decision and good on him. He could be there for 10 years because that’s the history of Triple Eight. They have drivers for a long time.

“As selfish as you might feel it is on Will’s behalf, [team owner] Betty [Klimenko has] got a beautiful heart and she’s made a decision to let him go, so now we’ll move on.

“He’s still a hundred percent committed to winning races for us. He hates Red Bull, or Triple Eight, as much as anyone right now because he’s with Erebus, so he wants to beat those guys as much as we do.

“At the end of the year, we’ll shake hands and make sure we hate him next year and we keep beating him.”