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Erebus Motorsport has issued an “honest update” on the progress of its Gen3 Camaro Supercars, predicting it will shake them down in mid-February.
In a communication entitled, ‘A letter from Baz: Erebus Gen3 update’, ‘Baz’ being a reference to CEO Barry Ryan, the nature of the team’s Gen3 project is outlined, including what is holding it up.
According to Ryan’s letter, “The attention to detail is where gains can be made in Gen3 and I think we have already made many gains without turning a lap.”
However, he goes on to list several control components which Erebus has not yet received, hence the hold-up.
“Delays with controlled components is what currently stalls our car builds,” it is explained in the letter.
“We don’t have engines, exhausts, air boxes, radiator ducts, front splitters, front crash bars, dashboards, leg protection/drivers floor trays (both these items are now for us to make), rear wings, uprights and several designs and items we are expecting for assembly direction.”
Pointedly, it goes on to add, “We could send out a picture of a car on wheels and pretend we are nearly ready but that would be misleading and simply waste critical time that can be spent making things better.
“That’s not Erebus.”
See below for the full letter
According to the update, the team will likely shake down and test its Camaros, which will feature primary backing from Coca-Cola, on the February 13-15 dates which Speedcafe.com recently identified as a back-up plan for the southern-based teams.
That is around a fortnight later than the Supercars-organised Winton shakedown date of February 1, and a week later than the February 7 test day which it has organised.
Erebus will take an unchanged full-time driver line-up of Brodie Kostecki and Will Brown into the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship, which starts with the Thrifty Newcastle 500 on March 10-12.
A letter from Baz: Erebus Gen3 update
Firstly, I will say that Gen3 is what Supercars needs and a change the fans will hopefully embrace with open arms. The GM vs Ford rivalry is hopefully alive again.
Now to an honest update on where Erebus is up to on our car builds. We chose a direction different from most other teams and committed to building our own chassis in house under the direction of our long term “welder” James White. James is a brilliant person, fabricator, engineer and designer but prefers the term “I’m just a dumb welder”. Our Gen3 chassis and clips will arguably be the best in the category and that’s where we wanted our base to start.
The rest of the build comes down to the control components that we could choose to source from other avenues or to make in house. We carefully selected the best manufactures we know from years of experience and have made everything so far via these lines. Control parts we have no choice and no control over, and need to purchase via the accredited manufacturer.
All components we have assembled in house under the leadership of Brad Tremain (Crew Chief) and Brad Packham (Chief Mechanic). The attention to detail is where gains can be made in Gen3 and I think we have already made many gains without turning a lap.
Controlled component delays is where we are currently stalled in our car builds.
Delays with controlled components is what currently stalls our car builds. We don’t have engines, exhausts, air boxes, radiator ducts, front splitters, front crash bars, dashboards, leg protection/drivers floor trays (both these items are now for us to make), rear wings, uprights and several designs and items we are expecting for assembly direction.
We could send out a picture of a car on wheels and pretend we are nearly ready but that would be misleading and simply waste critical time that can be spent making things better. That’s not Erebus. As someone wise once said to me, always use the six P’s: Proper Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance!
Erebus will shake our cars down and test when we have 100% complete cars. Testing an incomplete car without proper initial set up time is a waste of everyone’s time and will not help us win races in 2023. If this happens to be the 1st of February, that’s great, but I suspect we will shake down and test February 13th-15th.
Brodie and Will are more ready than ever, and I know they will drive out of the pits ready to drive as fast as they can and race hard to push for the top step of the podium, right from the word go.
Lastly, we cannot wait to represent Coca-Cola this season, along with brilliant long term partners Shaw and Partners Financial Services, Grays, Southern Cross Truck Rentals, Pedders, Supagas, Snap-on Tools and all our other fantastic new and loyal partners. We have more exciting things coming and our first day on track cannot come fast enough.
In pictures: Erebus Gen3 build
