Barry Ryan has revealed a pact he made with himself that helped Brodie Kostecki and Erebus Motorsport sweep the Supercars titles in 2023.
Once the self-appointed ‘team of misfits’, Erebus emerged as a Supercars powerhouse in the first year of the Gen3 era.
The team consistently had the fastest cars across the season, Brodie Kostecki sealing a maiden Supercars title while Erebus wrapped up the teams’ championship, another first.
Overseeing the rise of the team has been CEO Ryan, known for his willingness to speak his mind and wear his heart on sleeve.
In an interview on the latest Speedcafe Newscast, when asked how he had responded to the pressure of leading a front-running team, Ryan said that fundamentally there had been no change in approach.
However, he did admit that there was some self-reflection in the middle of the season when Will Brown signed for Triple Eight, Ryan making a pact with himself to not let his emotions take over and the move unsettle the team.
“It was definitely pressure [fighting for titles] but I tried not to change and do what I always do,” Ryan explained. “If I’ve got an opinion, I’ll say it.
“But, since Tailem Bend and the Will [Triple Eight deal] happening, there was there was a big shift in attitude with, I guess, the outside world, and [asking], ‘why is he leaving?’ and all that stuff.
“And I just made a pact with myself [to not] get caught up in it. Don’t open your mouth when you shouldn’t. And just get on with it. And I probably let a lot of things go that I wouldn’t have 12 months ago, because it just wasn’t worth getting into the debate that people wanted.
“Triple Eight, I guess half of their reason [to sign Brown] was to try and unsettle us. And it didn’t unsettle us, luckily. It could have easily and I could have probably contributed to it if it was the Barry of two years ago.
“So as much as I say I haven’t changed, I have – but I know exactly what I changed. It’s not like it’s a fake change. It’s what I needed to do to make sure we kept our team on track.”
Hear more from Barry Ryan in the latest Speedcafe Newscast.
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