Erebus to shake down new chassis

Erebus Motorsport pilot Lee Holdsworth will have a vital shakedown of his brand new #4 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG chassis at Norwell today after the remarkable rebirth of his car in time for the Castrol EDGE Gold Coast 600.

Erebus Motorsport CEO Ryan Maddison praised the efforts of his Yatala-based team after it successfully completed the build of a brand new #4 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG from the ground-up in just six days.

After Holdsworth's car sustained serious damage in an incident at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 nine days ago, the crew worked around the clock to ensure the car was ready in time for this weekend's Gold Coast 600.

Rather than rebuilding the damaged chassis, the team elected to build a spare chassis from scratch, and after just six days, have managed to transform an empty shell into a race car ready to hit the streets of Surfers Paradise.

Holdsworth - who was devastated after the second consecutive huge accident - will give the new chassis its first and all-important test at Norwell today ahead of Friday morning's first practice session.

"I've said before that this team is capable of producing miracles and they've once again proved that,'' said Maddison.

"To do what they have done in such a short space of time is nothing short of remarkable and has given everyone a real lift heading into this weekend's Gold Coast 600.''

Erebus Motorsport Team Manager Ben Croke also praised the work of the team, particularly considering it came off the back of an intense rebuild to get the car ready for Bathurst after a high-speed incident at the Sandown 500 in September.

"All the guys have been working extremely hard for the last month since Sandown and it's a credit to their dedication that we have had the car ready for firstly Bathurst and now the Gold Coast,'' said Croke.

"The spare chassis was still a bare shell last Thursday so to have the car ready to go today is an achievement that we are all very proud of.

"It's been all hands on deck since we returned from Bathurst. The mechanics from the #9 car were helping out with the build so it's been a real team effort right across the board.''

The Erebus Motorsport team heads into the Gold Coast 600 event boosted by Will and Alex Davison's fourth placing at the Bathurst 1000 in the Erebus Team Beko #9 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG.

Holdsworth and co-driver Craig Baird also enjoyed a successful weekend at the corresponding GC600 event 12 months ago where they finished fifth in the second race.