Jack Le Brocq’s Dunlop Series Ford will compete in this weekend’s Bathurst 250 with support from digital currency community Dogecoin.
The crowdfunding program has been implemented for the Erebus Academy driver after a similar effort to sponsor Erebus’ main V8 Supercars operation earlier this year failed to meet the required target.
Dogecoin’s interest in V8 Supercars follows its sponsorship of NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Josh Wise, who was a shock winner of the fan vote at the Sprint Cup All-Star race in May thanks to the support of the online community.
The 22-year-old Le Brocq drives an Image Racing prepared Ford in the Dunlop Series, sitting 12th in points five rounds into his rookie season.
“We’ve got a big community behind us that we’ve done a few online chats with already so it’s great to have that support,” Le Brocq told Speedcafe.com of the Dogecoin backing.
“We’ll be doing our best to get their name out there more as well as my own, so it works well for both of us.”
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Le Brocq, a former Australian Formula Ford champion, has fought hard to find round-to-round sponsorship this season in order to keep the ex-Stone Brothers Racing FG on the grid.
“It’s been pretty full-on trying to get to each round,” he said.
“Perth, Townsville and Queensland, it was give-or-take as to whether we were going or not.
“Perth was the closest, we actually said no to going before Terry (Wyhoon, team owner) was able to pull something together at the last minute for us.
“It’s not the ideal way to prepare for a race meeting, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to get to the race track.
“Hopefully next year we can lock something in on a permanent basis so we can fully focus on the racing side of it.”
Le Brocq has yet to record a top five finish this year and admits that the second-tier V8 Supercars class has proven “more difficult than I thought it was going to be”.
He heads to Bathurst on a run of three top 10 finishes however, and will be further boosted by the assistance of regularly workshop-based Erebus engineer Nathan Leech for the weekend.
Le Brocq had started the year with Erebus general manager Barry Ryan engineering his entry, but has had to rely solely on Image staff over recent events due to Ryan’s commitments with the Erebus GT and V8 Ute programs.
The mid-season withdrawal of Le Brocq’s experienced team-mate Taz Douglas has also added to the challenge of getting up to speed in V8 Supercars.
While this weekend marks Le Brocq’s first Bathurst in a V8 Supercar, he has proven strong at the Mountain venue aboard the wheel of Formula Ford and GT machinery, including a starring role in this year’s Bathurst 12 Hour with Erebus.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how it all pans out with the strategy and pitstops,” he said of the 250km Bathurst format.
“It’s new to a lot of people in the series so there could be a few dramas.
“For me it’ll be about keeping the car straight, getting to the end and hopefully we’ll have a result.
“Driving the GT car there is definitely helpful for me because it’s one of those places where any laps you do help.
“It’s going to be a bit daunting going there for the first time in a Supercar, but we’ll go in there with a clear mind and just see how it goes.”
Le Brocq hopes that a solid performance this weekend will help cement a maiden Pirtek Enduro Cup appearance next season.
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