Gray, 18, is currently in his second Super2 season with the Ford squad and scored a maiden pole position and race win last time out at Symmons Plains.

Highly rated by the team’s young driver mentor Mark Winterbottom, Gray is making his main game debut at this weekend’s Darwin Triple Crown aboard a Tickford wildcard.

Gray will also share the wildcard with Lochie Dalton in the Bend 500 and Bathurst 1000 enduros later this year, preparing him for a possible full-time main game move in 2026.

However, recent contract extensions for Cam Waters and Thomas Randle means there’s no space within the Tickford camp until at least 2028.

“He’s someone who is certainly part of the Tickford family and long term we’d love to be able to give him the opportunity in the main game,” said Brookhouse of Gray.

“But the difficulty is we’ve only got two cars and as everyone knows we’ve re-signed both Cam and Thomas for the next two years with a one-year option.

“It may well be that Rylan has to look elsewhere for a main game drive in the short term and we’d certainly be really supportive of that.

“But let’s just get him through this year first and not put too much pressure on him.

“He’s an 18 year old kid who can drive but I think the sport is very good at putting pressure on people after one really good result.

“Let’s get him through this weekend, let’s see how he goes in the enduros with the Gen3 car and hopefully he can win the DS2 (Super2) championship and put himself in a good spot.”

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Brookhouse also downplayed expectations on Gray for this weekend’s event at Hidden Valley.

“He’s a racer, he wants to go as well as he can,” said Brookhouse.

“But for us it’s about making sure we get through the weekend clean and he gets a good opportunity to get as many laps as he can. It’s experience.

“We’re not expecting anything out of him, anything special, but if he can be competitive and finish mid-field that would be absolutely awesome for him.

“Ultimately it’s just about the experience for him this year and then seeing where he goes beyond that.”