Erebus 'not going to rest' on series leads

Now that Erebus Motorsport leads both championships, team boss Barry Ryan has outlined the next goal — winning them.

Erebus arrived at the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint leading the teams’ points, with Brodie Kostecki the drivers’ leader.

Kostecki was third quickest in Friday practice despite missing the early stanza with a brake issue.

The Perth local carries a 32-point lead over Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert into Saturday.

It was an unfavourable day for defending champion Shane van Gisbergen, who was 14th quickest amid car problems.

Erebus burst out of the blocks in 2023, with Kostecki taking two wins, two poles and three more podiums.

Will Brown has also reached the podium this season, and is fifth overall.

Speaking in Friday’s press conference, Ryan said that despite Erebus’ fast start, his team must aim higher and convert to titles.

“It’s funny — I thought it would be a relief, but it’s actually not,” Ryan said.

“It’s like we’ve ticked that box, now we have got to aim higher.

“We have to got to win this championship, not just compete, and think, ‘Let’s take another year to see if we can win a championship’.

“We have got to win it this year, so we’re not going to rest on it. So the pressure is on probably more than ever.”

Kostecki has been a model of consistency in 2023 — the 25-year-old is the only driver to have finished every race in the top 10.

Ryan reiterated that Erebus’ mission between events was to ensure they didn’t fall away, something that kept him awake at night.

“Even though the workshop is very relaxed and the drivers are relaxed, it’s probably me that’s got a few sleepless nights making sure we don’t look like fools when we come to Perth like this and maybe not win,” Ryan said.

“We want to make sure that we don’t go up and down the ladder, we want to stay consistently in that top five.

“That’s how you win championships on history — you have got to be about 4.2 on average."

Cars will return to CARCO.com.au on Saturday for knockout ARMOR ALL Qualifying at 11:10am local time/1:10pm AEST.

Tickets for this weekend’s Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint are on sale on Supercars.com and Ticketek.com.