Jack Le Brocq unfazed by last gasp Finals battle
Le Brocq leapt into top 10 after James Golding's Bend disqualification
Last two Finals berths to be decided at Bathurst
If there's any extra pressure on Jack Le Brocq as he looks to hang on to a 2026 Supercars Finals berth in Bathurst, the veteran isn't showing it.
Le Brocq was the biggest beneficiary of a wild AirTouch 500 at The Bend from a Finals perspective, breaking into the top 10 ahead of the cut-off race at Bathurst, holding a 62-point buffer over Andre Heimgartner in 11th.
However, with only 87 points covering Le Brocq in 10th to James Golding in 14th, it's by no means a certainty that Le Brocq will secure his berth in the Finals on the Mountain.
The 34-year-old, who recently welcomed his second daughter Piper into the world, is keeping his and MSR's task for the Great Race simple, just execute their best race possible.
"It's great to be back in the 10, now we've gotta execute at Bathurst," Le Brocq told Supercars.com.
"The way the points are weighted, there's plenty available if you finish up towards the pointy end, and it's all so close that if anyone in the fight did that they'll be in a really good spot.
"Ultimately, all we can do is just control what we can control."
Le Brocq has been a constant presence in and around the fringes of the top 10 for Matt Stone Racing, carrying on with the strong form he displayed with the team in first year of Gen3 regulations in 2023.
Though he hasn't finished any higher than fourth all year, a result recorded in the final race of March's Melbourne SuperSprint, the #4 Sherrin Rentals Camaro has finished inside the top 10 on 13 occasions, including at The Bend.
A Finals qualification would also bury demons of 2025 for MSR, after Le Brocq's predecessor Cameron Hill missed out on Finals by just three points despite a strong run to fifth at last year's 1000.
"It was always the goal since we started preparing for the season," said Le Brocq of the team's desire to make amends for their near miss.
"Obviously the team got really close with Cam Hill last year, I think he only ended up missing out by a couple of points. If we get in it'll be a great little bonus.
"All we can do is just go out there and get the best result we can on the day, and if we have a good day hopefully it's enough to get us through."
A hallmark of Le Brocq's season has been sterling race pace, the two-time Supercars race winner moving his way forward from his grid position in 17 of the 29 races held to date.
With 1000km of racing to work with at Bathurst, Le Brocq is confident that race pace will be put to great use by both himself and co-driver Harri Jones, who starred at The Bend despite a disrupted lead up.
While Le Brocq is still searching for an extra edge in qualifying, something that has dogged the #4 Camaro throughout the season, he's confident MSR's strong race package will be enough to see him through to the championship battle commencing on the Gold Coast.
"It's such a long day, we saw last year that absolutely anything can happen, we even saw that The Bend was a really crazy race," Le Brocq said.
"Our race pace has been really good everywhere we've gone this year, obviously that's going to be a really big help at Bathurst, you've got so much time to use it.
"Unfortunately in quali at The Bend we just missed the mark a little, and it was tough with all the dirt on the track. It was something we looked at when we got back, so we can try and get ourselves up the grid a little further."
Le Brocq enters Bathurst as one of five key contenders for the 10th Finals spot, with Heimgartner, Thomas Randle, Jayden Ojeda, and Golding in the core group of five. David Reynolds in 15th is an outside chance.
The 2026 Repco Bathurst 1000 will be held from October 8-11.
