The markers of Erebus' massive performance jump

It has been a start to remember for Erebus Motorsport in 2023, with the Melbourne team the form squad in Supercars after two rounds.

Brodie Kostecki leads the drivers’ championship, and Erebus leads the teams’ points.

Two rounds in, and Erebus is atop the standings, has poles and wins to its credit, and has both drivers in the top five.

For a team which began in Supercars with three Mercedes-AMG entries, Erebus has had a chequered journey to the front.

However, Erebus entered 2023 as proven winners — but few outside the team could have predicted how strong Erebus’ performance could have been.

Through two rounds in 2023, Erebus has already ticked off several ‘firsts’ in a true display of the team’s performance.

First Gen3 era pole position

Kostecki proved Erebus’ testing pace was no fluke when he powered to ARMOR ALL Pole Position, having scored provisional pole.

One of the closest ever Supercars Shootouts unfolded before Kostecki’s #99 Coca-Cola Camaro hit the track in Newcastle.

However, Kostecki put a margin on the field to sail to his second career pole, and the first of the Gen3 era — a headline statement.

Teams’ championship lead

Both Red Bull Ampol Racing Camaros were disqualified from the Newcastle opener, but Erebus was still a marker of consistency.

The team led the teams’ championship for the first time come Sunday afternoon despite van Gisbergen winning Race 2.

Erebus consolidated the lead in Melbourne with two wins and a driver on the podium in each of the four races.

To Perth, Erebus leads Triple Eight by 101 points.

First double podium

There are few markers better of a team’s performance than having both cars on the podium, but Erebus had never quite scored a double.

Kostecki and Brown followed van Gisbergen in the Albert Park opener, thus helping Erebus to its first double podium.

The team had to wait 323 races until its filled two-thirds of a Supercars podium — but they only had to wait 48 hours to do it again.

Kostecki won the Saturday race, with Brown racing to third.

First front-row lockout

Erebus was no stranger to ARMOR ALL Pole Positions before 2023, but the team had never before recorded a front-row lockout.

Kostecki nailed pole for Race 4 in Melbourne, and was joined by Brown on the front row.

It came in the team’s 324th race, with Kostecki’s pole the 11th for the team and second for the season.

Kostecki’s drivers’ championship lead

Kostecki became the first Erebus driver to lead the Supercars drivers’ championship when he snatched the lead in Melbourne.

Reynolds was second after two rounds in 2018, having won one of the Albert Park sprints.

Kostecki was second in the points after Newcastle, and edged ever closer to erstwhile leader Mostert during the Albert Park weekend.

As Mostert faltered to 14th in the finale, Kostecki raced from 15th to third to steal the points lead.

Most points after two rounds

After two rounds, Kostecki and Brown have brought in a combined 897 points. Between 2013 and 2022, the team had never scored more than 700 points, let alone 800.

The team’s previous best start to a season came in 2019, when Reynolds and De Pasquale scored a combined 629 points. A year later, they scored 625 points.

Erebus first breached 500 points in 2014 courtesy of Davison and Holdsworth, but wouldn’t do it again until 2018.

Both drivers in top five

Kostecki and Brown are first and fifth heading to Perth. Erebus had never had two drivers in the top five in the points, let alone after two rounds in a new season.

Just once before has the team had both drivers in the top 10 after two rounds — Kostecki was fifth, and Brown eighth after two rounds in 2022.

The 2023 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint on April 28-30.