Team 18 has lost its team manager Bruin Beasley amid a significant restructuring of its technical department.
The team today confirmed a ‘strategic restructure’ of its technical department which will see Mark Winterbottom’s race engineer Manuel Sanchez and data engineer Julia McGarry both depart the squad ahead of the Gold Coast.
Matt Saunders will return to Team 18 to take over race engineer duties on Winterbottom’s car, with Rory Jackermis slotting into the data engineer role.
Saunders has been working in Super2 so far this year, although did make a cameo for Matt Stone Racing in Darwin, helping Jack Le Brocq to a race win.
Meanwhile, team manager Beasley last week tendered his resignation and will no longer lead the squad, with that position to be filled internally in the interim.
That, according to the team, was a “seperate development” to Sanchez and McGarry exiting the team.
“Team 18 has announced a strategic restructure within the organisation ahead of the final two rounds of the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship at the Gold Coast and Adelaide,” read a statement from the team.
“The team will introduce Matthew Saunders as the new engineer for Mark Winterbottom’s #18 Dewalt Racing Camaro for the Gold Coast. Saunders, who previously worked with the team in a fulltime role in early 2020, engineered Jack Le Brocq to a race win with Matt Stone Racing in Darwin earlier this year, and brings a wealth of success in various series including Super2, TCR and GT racing.
“Rory Jackermis will continue his role as data engineer for the remainder of the season.
“As the team embraces change, it is with great appreciation that we bid farewell to race engineer Manuel Sanchez and data engineer Julia McGarry, whose contributions to the team have been invaluable.
“In a separate development, team manager Bruin Beasley has departed the team, with his role to be filled internally for the time being. The team thanks Bruin for his contribution and wish him well in his future endeavours.
“This restructure will empower the team to optimise their operation and position the team for a successful conclusion to the 2023 season and lay the groundwork for an even stronger campaign in 2024.
“Team 18 appreciates the continued support of their fans and partners, as the team gears up for the next round of the championship on 27-29 October at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500.”
The changes follow a disappointing Bathurst 1000 campaign for Team 18 which saw both cars run low on fuel in the closing stages. Scott Pye made a late stop and finished 17th while Winterbottom didn’t make it back to the pits and was a DNF.
