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Jonathon Webb is set to take over team management duties at Tekno Autosports after Adrian Burgess’ move to a sporting role at Supercars.
He was the first of two senior Tekno staffers to be recruited to the championship’s technical department in recent times, Campbell Little last week named as Head of Motorsport.
Little had been race engineer on Tekno’s #19 ZB Commodore, but will now find himself continuing to report to Burgess as an employee of Supercars itself.
Jack Le Brocq, who joined Tekno for his rookie Virgin Australia Supercars Championship season last year, has assured Speedcafe.com that he will race for the team again this year despite confusion around whether his place on the grid had officially been confirmed.
Le Brocq also told Speedcafe.com that Webb would be assuming team management duties of the family-owned operation in the wake of Burgess’ departure, having taken a more hands-off approach in 2018.
“Me and Ades (Burgess) got along really well but he’s taken the next step in his career and it’s a bit of a shame that we can’t continue that relationship but that’s the way motorsport is,” said the 26-year-old.
“It’ll still work out alright; Jono’s going to take a bit of a step up this year with that side of things.
“I’m actually looking forward to working at a closer level with Jono, because we get along really well, so I’m actually looking forward to seeing how that all plays out.
“Last year with his new bub and stuff coming along, made it a little bit difficult for him, but it should be good fun working closely with Jono at the race track and hopefully have him there at all the rounds to try and keep moving forward with it all.”
He was also confident that a new engineer would be in place by the time the field goes testing at Phillip Island on February 14.
“Jono’s working through all that at the moment, so he’s been busy for the last couple of weeks going through it all and last year,” said Le Brocq.
“I think he’s just waiting to work out what’s going to be our best move to get the right person involved.
“It should be all sorted by the time we get to Phillip Island and we’re testing, so it should be good.”
Le Brocq himself, who confirmed he has a two-year contract with Tekno, will take the next step of his pre-season with a trip to the United Kingdom this week to work with renowned driver coach Rob Wilson, who has coached Formula 1 stars and multiple Supercars drivers.
“I’m off to see Rob Wilson over in the UK, so I get back early February and by the time I get back, it’ll be into it,” he noted.
“I went over last year and saw him and at the start of the year, and I’m just going over and just going to get a couple more days under my belt.”
Le Brocq has also moved back to Melbourne from South East Queensland during the off-season.
The Victorian had ventured north in order to bed himself in with the Gold Coast-based team but has returned home for lifestyle reasons.
“I just got a bit bored during the week last year so I’ve just come back and just go to work with the old man in the factory when I’m around and stuff like that,” he explained.
“It gives me something to do, and stop overthinking the racing thing.
“I’ve been in Melbourne all my life and just moved up there last year to be close to the team, so I’ll just fly back and forth for the debriefs and all that sort of stuff that we need to do.
“There were a few bonuses about coming back; don’t mind it (in Melbourne) here other than the winter.”
Le Brocq was the highest finishing rookie in last year’s championship in 19th position.
