Firm insight into the dispute between the reigning champion team and its title-winning driver has been thin on the ground so far with neither party able to discuss why Kostecki sat out the first two rounds of the season publicly.
However Supercars Chairman Nettlefold has now had his say on the matter as part of an interview published across News Corp Australia’s platforms today.
Nettlefold indicated that there were “health-related” issues for Kostecki that he then linked to his “work environment”.
“I was more worried about how much it hurt Brodie,” Nettlefold said.
“Brodie, for a young guy who won a championship, for him to make that decision because of health reasons, he was troubled and that was the catalyst that concerned me.
“[It was more] how can we help drivers that are having those issues, more so than why isn’t he driving? If he is not driving, there is a reason.
“But if it is health-related – and health-related can come from many ways – and if it means that it was a work environment that he was struggling with then we have to be supportive to him on that.
“It was very unfortunate. I think it was the last thing in his wildest dreams that he would not want to defend his championship properly.
“You can see he is already starting to get speed back in the car. It won’t take him long.
“I would be the first to be happy for him if he wins a race in the next couple of rounds.”
Nettlefold added that he is confident any workplace issues had been dealt with by team owner Betty Klimenko.
“I believe that Betty has stated that she addressed certain concerns that Brodie had,” Nettlefold said.
“As long as that has been done… Brodie has realised you have done what you said and I’m happy to come back and race and I’m mentally strong enough to do it now.”
Supercars has come under significant fire during the saga, initially for being seen to side with Erebus via coordinated statements from team and series after Speedcafe broke the news that Kostecki would miss the first round.
That was something CEO Shane Howard was forced to address directly.
According to Nettlefold there wasn’t much Supercars could do at the time – however he did flag the plans for TRC changes, as revealed by Speedcafe last week.
“Unfortunately, there was not a lot we could do outside,” Nettlefold said.
“We had several meetings with the Erebus team but it was really something that could only be dealt with between Brodie and the team.
“We don’t have the absolute power to tell a driver or tell a team how to run their business.
“But we are going to look to – through some TRC discussions we are having now with the teams – give us more power so that we can get more involved for the betterment of the sport.”
Klimenko is believed to be closing in on a sale of the Erebus squad.
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