Feature: Betting on youth

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Erebus Motorsport promoted its 2020 endurance co-drivers Will Brown and Brodie Kostecki into the full-time drives, while Zane Goddard and Jake Kostecki stepped up from a shared drive to solo full-time roles in 2021. 

Erebus Motorsport signed Brown and Brodie Kostecki following the departure of David Reynolds and Anton De Pasquale. Reynolds walked away from a long-term deal with the team to move to Kelly Grove Racing, while De Pasquale switches to Dick Johnson Racing. 

Brown drives the #9 Commodore, previously used by Reynolds, while Brodie Kostecki races the #99 formerly occupied by De Pasquale. It means they remain in the same entries they raced in at Bathurst in 2020. 

“Brodie is a hard-arse racer and exactly what we need in our team” said Erebus Motorsport CEO Barry Ryan.

“Brodie is more than ready and both he and Will are far beyond where we expect any young driver to be.

“We are really excited to have two young but familiar faces pushing each other, and if we can give them the car then they can certainly deliver the results.”

There’s also an all-new engineering line-up at Erebus Motorsport with Alistair McVean and Mirko De Rosa departing and being replaced by Tom Moore and George Commins.

At Matt Stone Racing, Goddard and Jake Kostecki (cousin of Brodie) got full-time roles after sharing the #34 Commodore as part of the team’s SuperLite program, in addition to co-driving together at Bathurst, in 2020. 

While Jake Kostecki remains in the #34 entry, Goddard moved into the #35 previously occupied by Garry Jacobson. 

“It is great to be renewing with Zane and Jake and being able to take that next step in their journey into the main game by putting them up into a full-time drive with our team” said team owner Matt Stone.

“It is something we have worked very hard on and are very passionate about, so it is good to see it come to fruition.” 

The youth movement follows the full-time departures of veterans Rick Kelly and Lee Holdsworth, off the back of the likes of Garth Tander and Craig Lowndes retiring from full-time drives. Six of the drivers on the 2021 grid are under 23 years of age, including the Erebus Motorsport and Matt Stone Racing drivers, Jack Smith at Brad Jones Racing and Bryce Fullwood at Walkinshaw Andretti United. 

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