A closer tie forged with its fellow Melbourne squad following a disastrous Taupo set the platform for improved speed at Symmons Plains and then a surprise third-place finish in Perth.
The unfortunate reality for BRT is that neither Courtney nor WAU will be part of its mix next season.
While Courtney heads for retirement from full-time driving, WAU’s switch from Ford to Toyota will sever its tie with BRT.
It’s among a series of technical relationships set to be ended by manufacturer moves that includes all those held by Supercars’ customer kings, Triple Eight.
There’s a growing expectation that BRT will sign-up for Triple Eight’s customer support system, which it has honed to a fine art while on the GM side of the fence.
Tim Blanchard, though, says he’s in no rush to commit to such a program, despite the seemingly obvious benefits on offer through linking with a major squad.
The team’s recent upheaval has also included changes within its own line-up of engineers and crew structure.
“We’ve got to make a few decisions of what we’ll do,” Blanchard told Speedcafe.
“At the moment we have a very short-term view on it, just working closely with Walkinshaw and trying to move forward.
“The last two events we’ve made some good inroads on that and just kind of trying to get that customer model working with them properly first.
“But we also want to back in our own guys as well, let them make some calls, so we’re seeing how our year transpires and how our team is developing before we make any calls.”
BRT has already been part of Triple Eight’s Ford switch, providing its spare car for the news announcement on January 31 and more recently granting access for analysis.
The later act comes amid a standoff between current Ford homologation team Dick Johnson Racing and Triple Eight over the handover of duties.
“They’re going to be the homologation team for Ford so it’s in our best interests to have them on the front foot when they take over next year,” said Blanchard.
“It makes sense to work closely with them, whether it’s in an official capacity or as our homologation team, we’re going to be linked with them in some way.
“I think it’s good to have a solid relationship with them.”
The other big part of BRT’s 2026 puzzle is going to be the task of replacing James Courtney, who Blanchard admits will leave a sizeable hole in the team.
Hoping the Perth podium will help BRT attract the talent it needs, Blanchard says locking down a driver is still very much a work in progress.
“It’s obviously that time of year where you start thinking about what you’re going to do,” he said.
“[I] can’t twist James’ arm hard enough to convince him to do a John Farnham tour!
“At this stage we’ve got a bit of a short list of what we’re thinking but haven’t made any decisions.”
Courtney’s teammate Aaron Cameron is only four rounds into his Supercars Championship career and is not yet guaranteed to continue in the CoolDrive Mustang next season.
Blanchard, who is making his racing return in the Trans Am Series in Darwin this weekend, did give one piece of certainty regarding Courtney’s replacement.
“It won’t be me, I can tell you that much right now,” he laughed.
Discussion about this post