How NZ crash impacts Erebus' Gen3 build
Will Brown's frightening Pukekohe crash has pushed Erebus Motorsport's Gen3 build back by two weeks, says team boss Barry Ryan.
The Supercars squad has been racing the clock since the recent Auckland SuperSprint after Brown's car was destroyed on the opening lap of the second race.
Initially there were concerns that it couldn't be repaired in time for the Bathurst 1000 and Brown and Jack Perkins would be forced into the spare chassis.
However a mammoth six-day fabrication effort saw the chassis repaired and repainted before it was returned to Erebus HQ to be reassembled.
It will return to the track at Winton tomorrow for a pre-Bathurst test.
While the three-car Bathurst 1000 campaign has been rescued, the repair effort has taken its toll on the team's Gen3 programme.
Erebus is using its Mount Gambier-based fabricator Jimmy White to assemble its control Gen3 chassis from kits supplied by Pace Innovations.
The first chassis has been finished, however the repair job on the wrecked Brown car, as well as rebuilding the spares inventory ahead of Bathurst, the Gold Coast and Adelaide, has delayed work on the second chassis.
"We've limited a bit of damage, but it's still probably two weeks of getting all those spares remade so we've got spares for the next three rounds," Ryan told the Castrol Motorsport News podcast.
"The next three rounds are all places where you can do a lot of damage. So Jimmy is now replacing all of the bars. We like to take a full roll cage in kit form to Bathurst and Gold Coast. So he's replacing all the bars we used [and] all of the suspension arms we've bent and broken.
"The Gen3 programme has definitely taken a hit, probably two weeks. Luckily we've got the first chassis made and not many parts ready to bolt into it anyway. So if the second chassis has taken a two week hit, we'll still probably have it finished by mid-October. We'll still be okay."
The crash hasn't been without impact on the Bathurst preparations either, with Erebus forced to change its testing plans.
It had planned to take advantage of the rookie testing rules and run both Brodie Kostecki and Brown at The Bend Motorsport Park last week.
However due to the rebuild it could only run Kostecki on the fast, flowing layout, while Brown's pre-Bathurst test was moved to the tight, twisty Winton circuit.
"That was the plan," said Ryan of the two-car rookie test.
"Unfortunately Will has missed out on a rookie day at Tailem Bend, which is actually a good track to test for when you're going to Bathurst. It's a bit like Phillip Island, you've got some flowing corners. You can get a good idea on what your car might be doing on a track where you need a more Bathurst-style set-up.
"It's a shame, but we had a really good, successful day anyway."
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