Erebus relaxed about Holden debut

Erebus Motorsport is taking today’s first test with Holden Commodores as it comes, with team boss Barry Ryan relaxed about the hit-out at Winton.

Making the switch to Holdens this year means the team must learn about all-new cars, but Ryan believes the team and drivers David Reynolds and Aaren Russell are taking it all within their stride.

Both drivers are new to the team and to the new gen Holden Commodores, but there’s a feeling of excitement within the team as day one on track approaches.

“It’s basically just making sure Dave’s comfortable. The whole process – we don’t really know what to expect. It’s a totally different car – a totally different car for the team and the drivers,” Ryan told v8supercars.com.au.

“Dave is really relaxed about it, it’s not a plan as such, it’s just, ‘see how it goes’ …

Dave’s going to drive the car, say, ‘I do like this, I don’t like this’ and we’ll try to support what he does like and make it a good car for him.”

The majority of Victorian teams tested on Monday, with Erebus and Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport pushing the day out to tomorrow.

For Erebus, a key part of the date change was ensuring technical guru Campbell Little was available on the day after personal issues meant he would be unable to attend on Monday.

Little will be on track at Winton, as well as a number of other personnel including Walkinshaw Racing’s Mathew Nilsson, who has been the key liaison with Erebus on the uptake of the Commodores. He will engineer Russell's entry this season. 

“Mat’s been the link between myself and Walkinshaw, we’ve known each other a long time – he knows Campbell well, he knows Dave well and Joe Sasso, who has just started here as our crew chief/team manager,” Ryan said. 

“We’re all working together really closely.

“We’re not going to trip over ourselves and battle with the bits of the car we’re not used to, and we’ll ensure we’re got enough spare parts – Mat and all the Walkinshaw guys have been good there.”

Erebus has undergone some significant changes in the past few years, with a changeover to Car of the Future allowing the former Stone Brothers Racing team to morph into a Mercedes Benz AMG E63 team.

This switch is different, with plenty of information and assistance available with the Commodores. But having the right people in place is crucial.

“It’s been quite good with Walkinshaw. They’re close, they’re 10 minutes away, so if we have little problems we can go and see them. If they need to bring stuff down, or we need to pick stuff up – it’s been really easy to manage,” Ryan said.

“I don’t really find anything really hard – I just dig my heels in and make it happen. It’s just the way I’ve been and we’re trying to get a group of people that are the same way.”

The shift down from Queensland to Melbourne for this season means there are new faces amongst the group but Ryan and team owner Betty Klimenko are confident there are good things ahead for Erebus.

LDM is also on-track today with new driver Andre Heimgartner joining Nick Percat in the developing group.

It will be Heimgartner’s first time in a Holden Commodore. LDM runs Triple Eight Commodores, a different build to the WR chassis Erebus Motorsport switches to.

Heimgartner was thrilled with the lifeline Dumbrell offered him for this season after a decent debut year in 2015 in the Super Black Racing fourth Prodrive car.

His experience was quite similar to Percat’s, who joined LDM last year after one year in the fourth Walkinshaw Racing car in 2014.