2023 season report: Erebus Motorsport
As 2023 winds down, Supercars.com is looking over all 11 teams and their performances in this year's Repco Supercars Championship, concluding with Erebus Motorsport.
It was a hallmark year for Betty Klimenko's crew, which for years had knocked on the door, yet failed to land the biggest punches over a whole season.
In 2023, it was Erebus that not only threw the punches, but absorbed them and turned the pressure into performance.
The Coca-Cola Camaro squad led the teams' champion from Newcastle until the very end. Brodie Kostecki first led the championship at Round 2, and after losing it briefly, stole it back and never looked back.
Race by race, round by round, Erebus never faltered. News of Will Brown's defection to Triple Eight had potential to unsettle the team, but it proved quite the opposite.
Erebus finally had the ingredients for win it all, and save for a mid-season lull and Bathurst race day miss, it was a brilliant season.
Kostecki's run to championship glory was as good as they come. In previous years, drivers racked up win after win, and motored home with races to spare.
Kostecki had Brown and Triple Eight snapping at his heels, but on the days he wasn't winning, he was scoring big. The best drivers know more than just winning; it's about playing the long game.
In a nutshell, Erebus shook off the ragtags... tag, and put everyone on notice. Gone were the pit stop errors and the speed inconsistencies. In their place was a well-oiled machine, and for the most part, two benchmark cars.
Season results and head-to-heads
Drivers' finish: Brodie Kostecki 1st, Will Brown 5th
Teams' finish: 1st
Best result: 1st (Brodie Kostecki six wins, Will Brown four wins)
Qualifying head to head: Brodie Kostecki 21, Will Brown 7
Race head to head: Brodie Kostecki 22, Will Brown 6
What’s next in 2024?
The team welcomes Jack Le Brocq, with Brown off to Triple Eight to replace Shane van Gisbergen.
The Brown news galvanised the team, with Kostecki quickly asserting himself as top dog and duly leading the team to glory. Brown fell away and eventually finished fifth, but not to Erebus' detriment, given his move to their biggest rivals.
The question on everyone's lips is can the team back it up. On paper, sure, it might be a challenge. But a glance at Kostecki's results prove the West Aussie driver is an elite talent, a driver with his head screwed on.
After all, Kostecki has just one DNF in 92 starts as a full-time Supercars driver, when he was rubbed out in Sydney by James Courtney in 2021. That alone demonstrates he has a sharp racer's brain.
Le Brocq, meanwhile, arrives with a point to prove, given his own breakout season with Matt Stone Racing. How Le Brocq performs could prove critical in Erebus' back-to-back hopes, given the team still won the title despite Kostecki outscoring Brown by a staggering 624 points.
