Erebus continues to reinvent itself
The transformation continues for Erebus Motorsport, which has just taken ownership of a new Melbourne facility and is building its first Erebus Holden Commodore.
The Betty Klimenko-owned operation shifted from Queensland to Victoria, reinvented itself with Commodores rather than the Mercedes Benz AMG E63s, signed David Reynolds and took on Aaren Russell all for the 2016 season.
Now the team takes another major step forward, with plans in place to shift to a more sophisticated facility in Dandenong in the break between Queensland Raceway and Sydney Motorsport Park.
Klimenko is focused on growth in her team, and believes the results achieved on-track are reflective of the raft of changes Erebus has gone through.
Reynolds sits 17th in the Championship with standout performances at the Clipsal 500 and Winton, earning fifth and sixth-place finishes.
“We are achieving everything we set out to,” Klimenko said.
“Supercars are competitive and we are effectively racing a new car with a new crew.
“As things settle and we find some momentum I know we will continue improving, I have full confidence in my team and together we will finish strong.
“I am committed to Supercars and am excited about our future.”
With the news Erebus is building a new car for Reynolds, Klimenko clarified the deal with rookie Russell, who owns the Supercar that races under the Erebus umbrella.
“2016 was a fresh start for Erebus – we have two entries competing, however we only have one car in the championship that we own,” Klimenko said.
“We agreed to work with Novocastrian Motorsport ahead of this year to give Aaren Russell the chance to compete, which is something we haven’t done before in Supercars.”
The team put together a program that meant Russell could work with the crew and learn from established star Reynolds, who finished third in last year’s Championship.
Team boss Barry Ryan – who has stepped in to engineer Reynolds temporarily after the departure of Campbell Little – explained that moving shop was always on the cards.
"We always planned on moving into new premises – we have maintained our objectives and timelines and feel we are ahead of what we had set out to do,” Ryan said.
“Our primary focus during the transition from Queensland was building a core team, car performance and making the drivers comfortable.
“The move won’t happen immediately as we need to ensure the new Erebus Headquarters are fitted out with all essentials.”
The team will be gearing up for next event the Castrol EDGE Townsville 400, to run from July 8-10 – Reynolds appeared on the podium in both races there last year, when steering for Prodrive Racing Australia.
