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Penrite Racing CEO Barry Ryan says that his co-drivers will not need any more track time before the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.
Erebus Motorsport has shifted Will Brown into David Reynolds’ #9 ZB Commodore and signed Brodie Kostecki to partner Anton De Pasquale in Car #99 for this year’s enduros, of which there will now only be one.
Both Brown and Kostecki are race winners in the two rounds of the Dunlop Super2 Series which have been held thus far in 2020, and currently occupy second and third in the standings respectively.
According to Ryan, those outings and the standard six, hour-long practice sessions at Mount Panorama will be sufficient track time.
“They’ll be right; that’s why we picked those two drivers,” he told Speedcafe.com.
“They’ve already got two rounds under their belt this year (and) there’s six hours of practice at Bathurst.
“If anyone thinks we need more practice than that, they need to have a look at themselves. You’ve just got to give your co-drivers more practice.
“We wear the cars out at Bathurst as it is, with the amount of practice, so it’s silly to do any more.”
Ryan is also unenthusiastic about the idea of a test day or other running set aside for co-drivers prior to the Bathurst 1000.
There have been suggestions of such at or around either of the two upcoming race events at The Bend Motorsport Park, in South Australia.
However, travel into South Australia from Victoria is generally prohibited at present, while those arriving from New South Wales must observe self-quarantine for 14 days.
Five confirmed co-drivers are based in Victoria, not including the currently Queensland-domiciled Thomas Randle, and Albury’s Jordan Boys was named in Brad Jones Racing’s line-up this week.
According to Ryan, bringing co-drivers into the paddock before Bathurst is, if not an unnecessary risk, an unnecessary expense.
“If you try and get them (co-drivers) in isolation, or they have to end up in isolation, it’s more cost for the teams,” he observed.
“So, I think we just press on with the six hours of practice time at Bathurst and the teams just have to manage it the best they can.
“I just don’t think there’s any need (for a test day). It’s just more people coming into our bubble, which is a risk and we just don’t need that.
“Even if they’ve quarantined, we just don’t need the extra cost and the extra grief of it all; the accommodation, extra food, it’s out of control as it is.”
The 2020 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship continues this weekend with the Robson Civil Projects Townsville SuperSprint.
The remainder of the season is comprised of the Repco SuperSprint The Bend on September 19-20, the OTR SuperSprint The Bend on the following weekend, and the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 on October 15-18.
