Erebus Motorsport CEO Ryan Maddison has moved to the Gold Coast to take on a permanent role at Stone Brothers Racing as the merged outfits begin to sort their affairs.
Maddison has moved from his home base in Melbourne to live closer to the Yatala, Queensland team, where he will become immersed in the day-to-day running of SBR, in addition to working through Erebus’ likely full-scale takeover of the long-standing Ford team.
SBR and Erebus Motorsport announced in September that the companies would merge, with the team switching from Ford to Mercedes Benz AMG V8 Supercars for 2013.
The new-look team will utilise AMG engines and bodywork to run three Mercedes Benz E-Class V8s from next season.
Erebus’ original base is in Melbourne, with the team recently opening the doors to a brand-new factory in Moorabbin, Victoria.
Maddison has spent the past month split between SBR’s workshop and Melbourne, and has decided that his time will be better spent on the Gold Coast as the team heads into a critical phase of its transition.
“It made sense that I stop doing 48 hours on the Gold Coast and 72 in Melbourne each week. I needed to plant myself up here,” Maddison told Speedcafe.com.
“It’s a massive project, and there’s more than just the time frame that we’re working to. It was the right move for me to make.”
While Erebus’ V8 Supercars’ ambitions are his top priority at the moment, Maddison says that he is keeping the big picture in mind.
“It’s a big time for our entire business,” he said of Erebus, which currently runs cars in the Australian GT and Aussie Racing car categories, and has plans to expand into the V8 Utes.
“I see this move as full-time, but don’t have an office at SBR right now. There’s no reason to not take up residence. We still have an additional business in Melbourne, and there’s a lot of time being spent on the phone to our brand-new facility in Melbourne.
“The move will be permanent, but at some time in the future, it’s quite likely that we’ll need to integrate our programs.”
With plans for the short and long term at the top of his mind, SBR team founder Ross Stone says that there remains a lot of work to do before the opening event of next year’s V8 Supercars Championship.
“It’s pretty straight forward. Ryan has moved to the Gold Coast and he’ll be here based at our workshop, starting today,” Stone told Speedcafe.com.
“We’ve got heaps of planning coming for next year, making sure we have these cars ready, on the track and pointing in the right direction.
“We need to be integrated, because of the AMG involvement. We’re building three brand new cars, so there’s a huge amount of work to be done – engines, aerodynamics, the mechanical side. There’s a lot going here.”
While the SBR/Erebus merger continues to take shape, it’s exact driver line-up for 2013 is currently in question.
Originally intended to remain unchanged, Shane van Gisbergen’s place in the squad appears uncertain, while Lee Holdsworth has confirmed his future at the team.
CLICK HERE for more on the driver situation at SBR/Erebus.
