THE Blanchard Racing Team has nosed ahead in the race to secure the services of 2010 Supercars champion James Courtney for next season.
Courtney has been linked to many teams for 2024, amid anticipation that Tickford Racing will move from four cars to two.
Even as seats elsewhere have dried up, uncertainty has remained recently around whether Courtney might head to Matt Stone Racing or BRT.
V8 Sleuth understands the latter is likely, with the 43-year-old the favourite to land the seat currently occupied by Todd Hazelwood.
Courtney is the oldest full-time driver in Supercars but has continued to be competitive, headlined by a podium in Perth.
It’s also widely rumoured that Super2 young gun Aaron Love will be promoted should BRT manage to get its hands on a second Teams Racing Charter as hoped.
Love will make his Repco Supercars Championship debut in next month’s Sandown 500, sharing a BRT wildcard Mustang with Jake Kostecki.
Courtney’s expected union with BRT leaves Nick Percat and Scott Pye as the standout contenders for the MSR seat being vacated by Erebus-bound Jack Le Brocq.
MSR owner Matt Stone has publicly declared a desire to find a proven replacement for Le Brocq, and Percat and Pye are race winners with plenty of runs on the board.
Team 18 yesterday became the fifth team to formally announce its full 2024 line-up, joining Triple Eight, Dick Johnson Racing, Grove Racing and Erebus Motorsport.
