Looking back at the Bathurst 12 Hour weekend, Jack Le Brocq is pinching himself after scoring a podium finish at the race yesterday.

The 21 year old was given the opportunity to start the #63 in Sunday’s rolling start race from fourth on the grid, while the sun was still rising. “The rolling start at dawn was really awesome! Racing at dawn is new to me.”

“At the start of the race, I wanted to stay out of trouble. Some guys were more aggressive, but in a 12 hour race, it doesn’t matter where you come out at the first corner, as long as you’re in one piece.”

Le Brocq didn’t have long to settle into the race though, as after 15 minutes the green ‘Aussie’ SLS made contact with a kangaroo at Griffins Bend.

“I came around Turn 2, and the cars in front of me slowed down suddenly. I veered to the right to avoid the cars and clipped the kangaroo which was already dead on the ground.”

The contact with the kangaroo damaged the front right side of the SLS’s splitter and dive planes. Le Brocq revealed, “The damaged caused a huge decrease in front aero grip, and I had to learn to drive the car differently.”

He conceded that the damage caused them to lose about a second a lap. “There was a massive difference, especially at The Chase. I could no longer take it flat out, and had to lift off the throttle.”

During the course of the day the team discussed ways around the loss of aero grip, with the three drivers and engineers finding ways to drive around the problem: “The whole team worked closely to help each other out and find ways to improve our performance.”

Teamwork became even more important seven hours into the race when the #63 sustained further significant damage to the front right corner, when it made contact with the #65 Daytona while trying to pass the slower car. Most of the bodywork above the front right wheel came away leaving the SLS looking like an open wheeler!

Of all the challenges over the race, the heat didn’t prove to be too much of an issue for Le Brocq who admitted that the long day took a toll: “At the end of the day, you knew you’d done four hours in the car!”

While the whole weekend provided a lot of opportunity for Le Brocq to continue to develop his craft, there were some new experiences over the weekend. “Along with racing at dawn, racing with all the different classes was very new to me. It was frustrating at times, but a good experience.”

“Of course, it would have been better if we didn’t hit the kangaroo, but even that gave me a learning opportunity!”

“After the race, the whole team congratulated me and told me how proud they were. The whole weekend was just another great experience that I received through the Erebus Academy.”

Barry Ryan, Erebus Motorsport’s General Manager of Motorsport, reiterated the Academy’s support of their young driver, “He’s definitely part of Erebus’ future, for sure.”

Prior to heading to Bathurst, Le Brocq had the chance to complete an evaluation test day last week in an Erebus V8 Supercar at Queensland Raceway.

“My first evaluation test day in a current V8 Supercar is definitely one of the highlights of my career to date! To be given such a great opportunity from a high profile team like Erebus is just amazing! I am very thankful to the team for giving me the chance to take the wheel of one of their cars.”

Receiving tutelage from V8 Supercar driver Lee Holdsworth helped with improving the car’s performance: “I was lucky enough to get some help from Lee along with the engineers. I made massive improvements throughout the day which is great for my confidence.”

In his second year with the Erebus Academy, Le Brocq is really starting to feel like part of the Erebus family: “Both during the test and over the weekend at Bathurst, everyone has been great to work with, and made me feel a part of the Erebus team.”