CEO Barry Ryan has declared it “back to normal” at Erebus Motorsport amid Brodie Kostecki’s return to the team at Winton.
Kostecki is today cutting his first laps of 2024 following the bombshell news that he’ll resume race duties with the team next weekend at Taupō.
It’s the latest twist in a saga that had seen Kostecki sit out the first two rounds and a trio of major sponsors depart the team.
An Erebus statement on Monday said that Kostecki is returning after needing time away to prioritise his health.
Speaking during the test day, Ryan said: “It’s great to be back here doing a test day before New Zealand and have Brodie in the car alongside Jack (Le Brocq).
“It’s back to normal.
“That’s how we would have liked to start the year, but unfortunately we couldn’t. It’s just great to see Brodie happy and healthy and ready to go.
“It’s just like we left Adelaide at the end of last year.
“It’s always a good vibe here and we all know each other really well. We’ve been together a long time. So it’s great. It’s no different to what we finished at the end of last year.
“Everybody’s just ready to go. Got the number one on the car. It’s pretty exciting.”
Ryan also praised Kostecki’s preparation and motivation.
“He’s just done his homework in the background, prepared himself,” he said.
“He spent a lot of time with Paul (Morris) at Norwell (and) on his sim. All the stuff that he does and all the stuff that makes him as good as he is.
“You don’t need to push Brodie. He pushes himself and pushes us hard enough that we don’t need to push him.”
Kostecki says he’s currently playing catch-up but expects to be “up towards the front” at Taupō.
Underlining the sudden nature of the reigning champion’s return, Erebus had last week sent Le Brocq and Kostecki’s stand-in Todd Hazelwood to NZ to learn the Taupō track.
