WHEN Barry Ryan informed Betty Klimenko that he wanted Jack Le Brocq to join their Supercars squad in 2024, there was a sense of excitement from the Erebus Motorsport founder.
It’s something Klimenko hinted at with a chuckle during the media conference which followed the final race of the season in Adelaide.
“It’s not like I’m bringing in someone I don’t know,” she said.
“He knows me, thank god he knows Barry, there’s no surprises there for him!”
Ryan was actually Le Brocq’s engineer when the latter won the 2012 Australian Formula Ford title. He subsequently joined Erebus’ Australian GT program in 2013, and then made his Supercars Championship debut with them two years later as a co-driver.
Klimenko confirmed Le Brocq was a Ryan decision, once it became clear they’d have a void to fill with Will Brown leaving to join Triple Eight this off-season.
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“Jack knows the team, how we operate,” Klimenko told V8 Sleuth.
“He’s been with us. He was with us in GTs and he was with us in V8s as a co-driver, so he knows how Erebus works.
“We don’t have to teach him how it works, we don’t have to teach him Barry’s bad sense of humour, we don’t have to teach him anything – he knows.
“He can just slip straight in. So I’m happy about that.”
The timing could not be better for a reunion, with the 31-year-old coming off his career-best campaign headlined by delivering Matt Stone Racing’s first main game win, and Erebus having clinched a championship double in the first Gen3 season.
Le Brocq is tipped to run the #9 next year, while teammate Brodie Kostecki will don the #1.
