Brodie Kostecki said he had a feeling his Bathurst 1000 performance this year would be enough to open the door to a full-time drive in 2021.
Earlier this week it was announced David Reynolds and Erebus Motorsport would part company, bringing an end to a 10-year deal after just one season.
Kostecki, who joined the team for this year’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, will replace Reynolds in the #9 next year.
While Kostecki has long been linked to step up to Erebus Motorsport, he was in fact having talks with another team about going full-time.
However, the Gold Coast-based driver said he knew he had to be patient.
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“Coming off of Bathurst, I had a feeling myself, but I was given no indication that I’d have a drive there coming the following year,” Kostecki told Speedcafe.com.
“Unfortunately, some bad turn of events turned into some good for me.
“So I just sort of just played it out on my own accord and just played the waiting game until I got the call from Barry saying, ‘Hey, come drive our car next year.’
Kostecki has two complete seasons in the Super2 Series under his belt and contest two partial campaigns in 2019 and 2020.
Last year he contested the Pirtek Enduro Cup as a wildcard entry under the Kostecki Brothers Racing banner with cousin Jake Kostecki.
Having led the Super2 Series earlier this year and with a wealth of experience in the feeder series, Kostecki believes now is the right time to graduate.
“I feel like I’ve been ready for the last year or so,” Kostecki explained.
“I’ve done Super2 for a few seasons now, but I think I’m at the point now where I’m probably the most prepared that I could be going into the series as a rookie.
“I’m very fortunate that Barry (Ryan) and Betty (Klimenko) and Daniel (Klimenko) have given me a chance to drive one of their cars going into next year.
“Obviously coming off Bathurst and going into Bathurst as a first round, I couldn’t think of a better way to start the championship next year.”
Kostecki will join Will Brown at the team next year in what looks set to be a new-look set-up at the Dandenong South base.
Alistair McVean and Mirko De Rosa have also left the team, allowing Tom Moore and George Commins to step up into the Race Engineer roles on cars #9 and #99 respectively.
Kostecki said he’s not phased by the recent changes.
“There are a few new people here, but what people forget to realize is that when things go in the media of some people leaving, it’s actually a very small thing to begin with,” he said.
“It’s not really a massive change here at Erebus. I’ll be working with George, our new engineer for next year.
“Just getting to understand his lingo will be the first baby steps, and then we’ll be able to go from there.”
Kostecki said he is keen to excel for the team, but is conscious he needs to reign in any loft expectations.
“I’m really hungry to get results, but sometimes that can sometimes lead you astray,” said Kostecki.
“I’ve got some really good people around me, like Paul Morris, that can help keep guiding me through my career and help me leap over some of the tough obstacles that I’ll probably go through going through my rookie year.
“So that’s probably the main thing would be to try to push as hard as I can, but just minimize the results.
“Bathurst, the first round, should be a decent round for us coming off the last round at Bathurst this year.
“We’ll just try to push on from there and hopefully have some confidence going to the further rounds after Bathurst and just sort of go from there.”
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