Supercars news: Erebus Motorsport boss Barry Ryan on Will Brown defection, Brodie Kostecki future

Amid questions about whether Brodie Kostecki will follow Will Brown out the exit door, Erebus Motorsport boss Barry Ryan has fired up at journalists and hit back at suggestions of favouritism.

Erebus Motorsport chief executive Barry Ryan has revealed how he was left “gutted” when title challenger Will Brown told him he wanted to defect to the “enemy” Triple Eight as the team confirmed Jack Le Brocq as his replacement from next year.

Opening up on the decision to free Brown from the final year of his Erebus contract so he could join Triple Eight to replace the NASCAR-bound Shane van Gisbergen, Ryan said he was stung when informed the 25-year-old wanted to leave the series-leading squad.

Speaking to media ahead of the round at Tailem Bend, Ryan bristled when asked if he felt it was inevitable Brown’s teammate Brodie Kostecki, who made his NASCAR debut early this week, would also leave at the end of his contract in 2024 to try his hand at racing in the United States.

While smarting from Brown’s decision, Ryan insisted there would be no favouritism towards series leader Kostecki in the Erebus garage for the rest of the year as the two drivers battled for the championship.

Just days after Brown’s signing with Triple Eight on a three-year deal was confirmed, Erebus on Friday announced Le Brocq would step into his seat from next year after his departure from Matt Stone Racing.

There has been no love lost in the title fight between Erebus and Triple Eight, leaving Brown’s decision all the more hard for Ryan to digest.

“Imagine you have 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,” Ryan 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.

“We’ll get on with it professionally 100 percent and we’ll always be mates, it’s just that he’ll be the one I hate next year, not hate but everyone in pit lane is my enemy that’s the only way I can deal with racing and stuff to make sure our team is the best team in pit lane.

“He is going to the enemy next year, but this year he’s our mate, so we will press on.

“He’s a fun kid to have around … it’s just unfortunate next year he is not going to be here.”

Will Brown.

Brown’s defection to Triple Eight comes as Kostecki and himself sit first and second in the drivers’ standings for Erebus, which also leads the teams championship. Kostecki holds a 41-point lead over Brown with van Gisbergen in third position.

Ryan said Brown’s decision was disappointing given how much Erebus had invested in him, but said he had gone to a better “brand”, not a better team.

“It’s disappointing and I’m not angry …. it’s just that we put a lot of effort into Will,” Ryan said.

“But I can see, 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 pit lane at the moment, so he hasn’t gone to a better team, he’s gone to a better brand.

“We need to make sure we get to a point where we are like Triple Eight and we have won multiple championships and we have got big brands behind us, which we have. We have just got to tick a few more boxes that make the drivers want to stay.

“Will’s made a personal decision and good on him and he can be there for 10 years because that’s the history of Triple Eight, they have drivers for a long time.”

Mark Winterbottom (left) argues with Erebus Motorsport team boss Barry Ryan (middle) and driver Will Brown (right) last season Photo: Fox Sports.

Ryan revealed Erebus team owner Betty Klimenko had been pivotal in making the decision to allow Brown to leave.

“As selfish as you might think it is on Will’s behalf, Betty has got a beautiful heart and she has made a decision to let him go,” Ryan said.

“It wasn’t calling rank. She owns Erebus Motorsport, I run the place. She can call rank anytime she wants to on what she wants to do.

“She made the ultimate decision to let him go. I’m 100 per cent respectful of Betty’s decision.”

Ryan denied there would be any move to favour Kostecki now in the title fight.

“Not at all, I’m not interested in that,” Ryan said.

“We want to win the championship and we don’t care who it is.”

But Ryan snapped when he was asked if it was likely Kostecki would also depart the team at the end of 2024 to chase his NASCAR ambitions.

“Next question. Why would I answer that? You are talking about Brodie leaving, get on with it, I’m not going to answer that,” Ryan said.

“Everybody has got aspirations to do different things. If Brodie wants to go to America, then go to America, but I don’t think he wants to at the moment, he wants to tick some boxes.

“Why would I talk about that crap, we are leading a championship.”

Le Brocq’s Erebus signing marks a Supercars homecoming after he made his main game debut as a co-driver with the team in 2015. Le Brocq sits eighth in this year’s championship and has been a race winner this year.

“We have witnessed Jack’s journey and some of his achievements first-hand, and we’re thrilled to welcome him back to the family,” Ryan said.

TRIPLE EIGHT CO-OWNER COMMITTED DESPITE US MOVE

Triple Eight co-owner Jess Dane has no plans to sell her ownership stake in the powerhouse Supercars squad ahead of an impending move to the United States.

Dane has confirmed she will join partner Shane van Gisbergen in heading to the US when he leaves Supercars at the end of the 2023 season to embark on a career in NASCAR.

Triple Eight officially announced on Wednesday it would free van Gisbergen from his contract with the team in 2024 to pursue his NASCAR ambitions, signing championship challenger Will Brown as his replacement on a three-year deal.

Dane, the daughter of Triple Eight founder Roland Dane, owns a 30 per cent share in the powerful Camaro squad and said she had no intention of relinquishing her ownership stake.

“I will continue being a shareholder of Triple Eight, I don’t foresee that changing anytime in the near future,” Dane said.

“Triple Eight has been a massive part of my life since the 1990s in one way or another.

“I see that it would be very easy to continue being a director of Triple Eight, on the board without being in the same country.

“There are plenty of directors around the world who live in different countries to companies they are directors of, so it certainly wouldn’t be unusual.

“I will still definitely stay involved in Triple Eight in one way or another and I don’t see myself selling my shares any time soon.”

Dane initially became a shareholder of Triple Eight in 2015 and has gradually increased her ownership stake since then. Team principal Jamie Whincup and Tony Quinn are the other major shareholders.

Off-track, Dane has also most recently worked in human resources, legal, compliance and governance roles with the team.

Dane intended to join van Gisbergen in relocating to the US – where she hoped to expand her own motorsport career – shortly after the season-ending Adelaide 500.

“My plan is to try to get a visa and head over to the US as well,” Dane said.

“His visa would allow a spouse to go over, but we are certainly not married and we don’t intend to be and also that visa would mean that I wouldn’t be able to work, which is certainly not something that I would be OK with.

“The process is underway for me to try and get my own visa, which there are a few options for, specifically one for Australians who have degree qualifications or higher and I am an Australian citizen and I have a couple of degrees up my sleeve (journalism and law). Hopefully it will be a fairly straightforward process.”

Dane was excited for the opportunity ahead for van Gisbergen – and also her own career.

“I see it as an opportunity for both of us to be honest,” said Dane, who is a passionate advocate for women in motorsport.

“Of course, it’s an incredible opportunity for him … it certainly wasn’t on his radar.

“Everything that has happened off the back of Chicago (win) has been pretty unbelievable.

“It was never something that he had his sights set on, but when these opportunities come up, you have to take them.

“For me, living and working in the US is something that has been on my radar for well over 10 years now. This has all happened and it seems like a fantastic time for me to take this opportunity and explore where my career can go over there.

“I’ve been in team-land my whole life, so something more on an administrative side or category side of things would be a really interesting perspective to learn more about the sport from that administration side.”

Dane said the team was thrilled with the acquisition of Brown as the New Zealand star’s replacement.

“We have always rated him as a driver,” Dane said.

“I’m really excited to see what he can do over the next few years.”

Originally published as Supercars news: Erebus Motorsport boss Barry Ryan on Will Brown defection, Brodie Kostecki future