THE #1 is set to return for a full Supercars Championship season for the first time in six years.
Erebus Motorsport CEO Barry Ryan has confirmed its #99 Camaro will don the champion’s number in 2024, after Brodie Kostecki sealed his maiden title today.
“One hundred percent,” Ryan told V8 Sleuth.
“Like, why wouldn’t you? He’s got no choice!
“He’s running #1. There’s no passion behind #99 really – I don’t know why, we just did it.”
The #99 has been run by Erebus since 2017, adopted to pair with the #9 the team inherited when Betty Klimenko bought Stone Brothers Racing four years earlier.
If Ryan has his way, the #1 might even be back on the grid sooner – for the final race of the season tomorrow – pending Supercars approval.
“We’ve actually asked,” he said of that prospect.
“I think the rules are written so that #1 is designated for the previous year’s champion so we would have to probably get permission off them (Triple Eight).
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“They’re not going to give it to us. If I was them, I would be running it tomorrow just to throw it in our face!”
The #1 has rarely been sighted in recent Supercars seasons, with Scott McLaughlin and Shane van Gisbergen opting to stick with #17 and #97 respectively when they’ve earned the choice.
Apart from a one-off use of #1 by van Gisbergen at the 2022 Adelaide 500, the number has been dormant since 2018 (run by Jamie Whincup all season).
