BJR confirms Hazelwood for 2021

Another piece of the silly season puzzle has been officially locked in, with Brad Jones Racing confirming the retention of Todd Hazelwood for 2021.

Hazelwood joined the Albury-based team this year after completing his first two main game seasons at Matt Stone Racing.

The 25-year-old ended up 17th in the 2020 championship, with a podium at Sydney Motorsport Park and an ARMOR ALL Pole in Townsville the highlights.

“I’m very honoured to announce that I will continue to race with Brad Jones Racing in 2021,” Hazelwood said.

“My first year with this team has been one of my most enjoyable years of racing and I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to achieve already.

“I have a fantastic group of people that work tremendously hard within the team.

“The way Brad manages the team is awesome, there’s an amazing amount of team harmony and he understands how to extract the best out of everyone.”

Hazelwood won the 2017 Dunlop Super2 Series title with MSR, after which the team and driver both stepped up to the main game.

It was a fiery baptism that included switching from an FG X Falcon to a VF Commodore midway through 2018, and then upgrading to a ZB the year after.

Hazelwood hopes that taking a stable package into 2021 will pay dividends.

“Going into year two of our partnership together is really exciting,” he said.

“In my four years of racing in the Supercars Championship, it will be the first time that I have driven the same equipment for two years in a row.

“I have no doubt this will help improve my race results and consistency throughout the season.

“My motivation and hunger for more has never been greater and I’ll be working hard during the off season to ensure I make myself a serious contender in 2021.”

BJR’s fleet will again be led by Nick Percat in 2021, with the '11 Bathurst winner having scored two victories on the way to seventh in this year’s standings.

The team is also set to continue running Jack Smith in its fourth entry, with Macauley Jones likely - but not confirmed - to make for an unchanged lineup.

BJR is expected to remain at four cars, despite Tim Blanchard taking his CoolDrive Racing Entitlements Contract to set up his own team in Melbourne.

For now, team owner Jones is happy to confirm that Hazelwood is staying in the #14 entry.

“We’ve had a great year with Todd, he fits in with the team well and he is fast on track,” said Jones.

“We’ve had poles and podiums this year and we are looking forward to building on the results in 2021.”