Jack Le Brocq’s surge into the top 10 in the Supercars Championship is the accumulation of a whole host of factors, according to the man himself.
Le Brocq went from 21st in his first season at Truck Assist Racing to sit 10th in the standings after the first three events of the Gen3 era, despite a challenging Sunday last time out at Wanneroo Raceway.
Even then, he showed further speed in qualifying, claiming fourth on the starting grid for Race 7 of the season.
“I supposed we worked pretty hard in the off-season and I suppose Gen3 is meant to equalise the field a little bit and shake it all up,” the 2016 Dunlop Super2 Series runner-up told Speedcafe during that Perth weekend.
“I know for myself, I’ve gelled well with the car, which is probably a big thing, but the guys just did a great job over the off-season building these cars, put a lot of time and effort into them, and I think it’s shown for us at the start of this year.
“But to be honest, nothing’s really changed; just doing the same old stuff, and we’re having some good results at the moment, so just trying to keep it going.”
While Le Brocq did acknowledge that a new race car, as opposed to a very old one, has made a difference, and that the driving style may “potentially” suit him, he also pointed to the stability in his team, including Race Engineer Jack Bellotti.
“Last year was a little bit rough at times,” he recounted.
“We had speed and everything still, but it was quite an old car – the oldest car in the field – and it was built back in 2014, so look, I suppose it’s all those little differences.
“But, signing with Matt and the guys here was always a two-year plan – potentially more – and working through into Gen3, so we got through last year, got a good relationship with all the team and building that side of things.
“Now we’re just reaping the rewards of that, having some good consistency, having the same engineer – Bellotti again – year-on-year, which is the first time for me having the same engineer year to year, it’s been good.
“Doing the best with what we’ve got.”
Truck Assist Racing/Matt Stone Racing recently confirmed the re-signing of Jayden Ojeda for this year’s enduros, with last month’s Bathurst 6 Hour winner to partner Le Brocq this time around.
Before then, Practice 1 for the Repco Supercars Championship field at the Ned Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint starts tomorrow at Symmons Plains at 09:00 local time/AEST.