MSR acquires famous SBR number

Matt Stone Racing has gone back to its historic roots for 2024, bringing a special race number back for the upcoming Repco Supercars Championship.

MSR has moved on the #34 and #35, bringing in the #4 and #10 for Cameron Hill and recruit Nick Percat.

The #4, allocated to second-year driver Hill, was carried to the 2003 championship by Marcos Ambrose. Ambrose raced for the team co-run by Stone’s father Jim, Stone Brothers Racing, between 2001 and 2005.

SBR won three straight championship doubles between 2003 and 2005, ending a decade of dominance by the Holden Racing Team.

The Ford squad operated in Supercars between 1998 and 2012, before being sold to Erebus Motorsport, which won last year’s drivers’ and teams’ championships.

Hill is also engineered by Paul Forgie, who skippered Ambrose to his 2003 and 2004 championships.

The #9, now attached to Erebus, was also synonymous with SBR, with Russell Ingall carrying the number to championship glory in 2005. The #4 and #9 were retained by Erebus into 2013, before the former moved on to Brad Jones Racing for various wildcards and later, Jack Smith’s full-time entry.

In the #4’s place, Erebus picked up the #99, which was carried to last year’s title by Brodie Kostecki.

Percat, meanwhile, will race the #10, last run by Lee Holdsworth and Penrite Racing in 2022. The #10 was run by Mark Larkham during his team’s alliance with SBR.

In 1998, SBR ran a customer car for Larkham Motor Sport with Larkham, who was effectively a full team-mate to Jason Bright. Bright would win the Great Race with Steven Richards and the #4.

Percat also made his Supercars debut in the #10, sharing a Walkinshaw Commodore with Andrew Thompson at the 2010 Phillip Island 500 enduro.

MSR debuted in the main game with Todd Hazelwood in 2018 with the #35, with the team welcoming the #34 in 2020 after acquiring a Garry Rogers Motorsport Racing Entitlements Contract.

Jack Le Brocq scored MSR's first Supercars Championship race win in the #34 at Hidden Valley last year, while Hill drove the #35 last year.

The #4’s move to MSR also means BJR is set to debut a new number for rookie Jaxon Evans. Erebus will also return the #1 for champion Brodie Kostecki, while Will Brown's first season with Triple Eight Race Engineering is also likely to come with a new number.

Hill and Percat will test their MSR Camaros at Queensland Raceway on Monday February 5 ahead of the Thrifty Bathurst 500 on February 23-25. Tickets are on sale now.