The Ford team struck a highly publicised deal with its Chevrolet rival late last year for the supply of chassis to coincide with the arrival of ex-Erebus driver Brodie Kostecki and two key engineers.
Supercars’ Gen3 rules feature a chassis of control design which Erebus, Triple Eight, Walkinshaw Andretti United and former DJR supplier Pace Innovations are all accredited to manufacture.
Speedcafe understands issues with the new Erebus-built DJR chassis were flagged during recent technical inspections by Supercars, which checks and tags all new chassis prior to racing.
This resulted in one chassis this week being modified in Queensland by Erebus’ fabricator, James White, and the other being returned to his remote base in Mount Gambier, South Australia.
The compliance question is believed to centre around the use of TIG rather than MIG welding on joins between key rollover protection bars at the top of the chassis.
Teams and their fabricators have differing preferences between the two welding techniques, with TIG considered finer, more intricate and resulting in a marginally lighter, neater weld.
Supercars stipulated MIG for the key areas under Gen3 in a bid for standardisation, with TIG allowed only where it’s not physically possible to perform one of the bulkier MIG welds.
This instruction was delivered to teams in a series of bulletins from the Gen3 steering committee while the original Gen3 cars were already in build.
It appears the discrepancy with the Erebus-supplied DJR chassis was the result of the wording of the rule and its ongoing validity being open to interpretation, with a clarification now likely.
Walkinshaw Andretti United is known to have completely TIG-welded its first Gen3 car back in 2022, having at that stage been unaware of the MIG requirement.
That car received MIG welds over the top of its TIG welds in the specified areas before hitting the track, with extensive analysis undertaken to ensure safety standards were not compromised.
A similar process is likely to be the relatively simple remedy for the relevant areas on the two DJR chassis.
A Supercars spokesperson has confirmed to Speedcafe that they have discussed the matter with both Erebus and DJR, and look forward to seeing both new-look teams competing at the Sydney 500.
DJR is still on track to shake down two brand new cars on February 13, but only Kostecki will have an Erebus-built chassis.
The Ford team has elected to build-up a currently unraced Pace Innovations chassis for Will Davison to start the season before his new Erebus chassis becomes available.
Work is believed to have started on building up the Pace chassis as a back-up plan while the team waited for the second Erebus chassis to arrive, before the compliance curveball occurred.
“We will have two new cars ready to shakedown on 13 February and look forward to seeing the cars on track,” DJR CEO David Noble told Speedcafe.
“The entire team is grateful to Erebus for their efforts to date and are very pleased with what they have delivered to DJR ahead of the 2025 season.”
Selling chassis to DJR marked a significant philosophy shift for Erebus, which had previously looked to keep its technical know-how in-house.
The team spruiked the attention to detail put into its chassis manufacturing as a key part of its success during Gen3’s debut season in 2023.
DJR’s decision to abandon long-time partner Pace Innovations for Erebus, said to be at the request of Kostecki and engineer George Commins, only heightened attention on the subject.
The Blanchard Racing Team is also understood to be making the move from Pace to Erebus chassis, with its lead driver James Courtney expected to debut a new car early in the season.
Supercars has not clarified whether previous Erebus builds will be re-inspected or require modification following the latest development.
The category had tagged and signed-off Erebus’ four previous chassis before they were debuted by the team across the 2023 and ’24 seasons.
Supercars’ motorsport and technical departments have undergone significant change in the last 12 months, with Tim Edwards and Perry Kapper now at the helm.
Erebus CEO Barry Ryan, who this week ventured to Queensland alongside fabricator White, offered only a brief comment when approached by Speedcafe for this story.
“I’m really proud that we have delivered these chassis to DJR, our first customer cars,” he said.
The 2025 Supercars Championship begins with the Sydney 500 on February 21-23.
