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The Blanchard Racing Team and Erebus Motorsport have engaged in a war of words in the pit lane during Race 14 at the Merlin Darwin Triple Crown.
The incident happened during the pit stop sequence when Erebus Motorsport feigned to pit, bringing its equipment out into the lane, before returning its gear to the garage.
What followed was a blow-up from the Ford squad’s team manager Brendan Hogan, who stormed across to the neighbouring team.
Erebus Motorsport brought Brodie Kostecki in for his compulsory pit stop, where he also served a 15-second penalty for sending Jack Smith into a spin at Turn 1 earlier in the race.
“We were coming into the pits because we thought we had a puncture and they were just trying to f*** us over,” Hogan told Speedcafe.com.
An animated Erebus Motorsport boss, Barry Ryan, made light of the incident.
Ryan said Hogan accused them of setting up on purpose to stifle Tim Slade’s pit stop.
“We were working on a gap; if Brodie was close enough to the car in front we’d pit,” said Ryan.
“So we were setting up each time and packing up. They accused us of f****** them over – messing them over – and they just tried to mess us over then, so it’s going to be a game.
“I love games, it’s going to be good all year. Love it.”
Ryan later stormed across to the Blanchard Racing Team pit where he sarcastically applauded them.
Asked why, Ryan said, “Because they came over and had a go at us after that last stop and I was laughing at them.
“When they set up I knew what they were doing and it didn’t make any difference to us. It’s just a bit of fun and games.”
Editor’s note: The initial headline on this story included the phrase “come to blows”, which has since been updated to “in war of words”. The original usage was intended in a metaphorical sense, but in hindsight, it was misleading. The comments of our loyal readers are always valued and we corrected the headline accordingly. While we are committed to producing interesting and engaging content, accuracy is always the number one priority. My apologies – Connor
