Le Brocq 'hurt' to slip out of top 10 in final race

Jack Le Brocq "hurt" to miss out on a top 10 position in 2023 points
Le Brocq bumped to 11th in final race after contact with Nick Percat
Percat replacing Erebus-bound Le Brocq at MSR in 2024

Outgoing Matt Stone Racing driver Jack Le Brocq was “hurt” to miss out on a top 10 position in the 2023 standings at the final round.

Le Brocq, who is replacing Will Brown at Erebus Motorsport in 2024, enjoyed a breakout season in 2023, headlined by a pole and victory in Darwin.

A collision with 2024 MSR driver Nick Percat in the Adelaide finale saw Le Brocq finish 23rd, and with Will Davison ninth, the Shell V-Power Racing Team veteran pinched the final top 10 points spot.

Regardless, it was still a career-best year for Le Brocq after finishes of 19th, 22nd, 15th, 16th and 21st since making his full-time debut in 2018.

"It’s been a roller-coaster but it’s also been absolutely unreal with the boys at MSR,” he said.

Percat contact sends Le Brocq into the barriers

"Had some real highs, like the pole position and race win in Darwin and plenty of top 10s and top fives along the way — I’ve lost track of how many solid results we’ve had.

"Absolute kudos to the boys at Matt Stone Racing, they did an awesome job all year. It’s a shame we couldn’t finish the job this weekend — it was a really tough one.

"We couldn’t find the balance of the car; had good speed at times but unfortunately couldn’t get it all working together.

"Unfortunately we dropped out of the top 10 of the drivers’ championship, which hurts. It definitely sucks because the boys have done an awesome job.

"We pushed hard all year and we just fell short at the final moment here in Adelaide. It’s part of racing, that’s motorsport.

“It’s a massive credit to all the guys here that kept punching on and got the job done. Big thank you to everyone for their support throughout the season.”

Hill crashes out of qualifying with Turn 8 hit

It was a brighter outcome for rookie teammate Cameron Hill who, after crashing in qualifying at the notorious Turn 8, recovered to 17th.

The points for 17th were crucial for Hill, who finished ahead of Declan Fraser and Jack Smith in the standings. It came a day after Hill was forced to start from pit lane after his car didn't start on the grid.

“It was a really tough weekend for me. The car didn’t start on Saturday when we were on the grid after a decent qualifying and by the time we had the car running I was a few laps down," Hill said.

"It was a long afternoon on Saturday and I wanted to really make up for it on Sunday, but unfortunately I had a big accident in qualifying.

"I really didn’t think I was going to be racing — I thought the car was too damaged but incredible the team just stuck in and put in an amazing effort to get the car fixed in under four hours for the final race of the year.

"Not only did we get it fixed, but we went from last to 17th, up eight spots which was amazing. It was a nice way to finish a really tough weekend."