While the 2023 Supercars season is far from done, a super silly season is on the cards ahead of the 2024 campaign, with several teams set to shake up their driver lineups over the coming months.
While Erebus Racing and Red Bull Ampol Racing have both drivers locked in until the end of 2024, Shane van Gisbergen’s expected early departure from the latter has opened the door for a highly-sought seat.
Australian media have linked Erebus’s Will Brown to the position, despite his contract with his current team running until the end of 2024. However, Red Bull, Erebus and Brown have not made any announcement of the sort yet.
Should Brown move to Red Bull, the vacant seat at Erebus will be another in-demand position.
The expected departure of Nick Percat from Walkinshaw Andretti United opens the door for a replacement, touted to be New Zealand’s Ryan Wood, who competes for the team in Super2. Thirteen-time race-winner Fabian Coulthard is the other driver linked to that seat.
Team 18 is another outfit rumoured to be browsing the driver market, with Scott Pye thought to be on the move. David Reynolds, whose contract with Grove Racing ends at the conclusion of 2023, is a firm favourite to join the team and partner Mark Winterbottom, as he did at Ford Performance Racing between 2013-2015.
Should he depart, a seat vacancy would open at Grove Racing to compete alongside Kiwi rookie Matt Payne.
Tickford’s Cam Waters is another name who had been rumoured for a switch. However, he appears set to stay for another year, according to the team boss Tim Edwards. This was, however, discussed before his infamous radio blowup during the Sydney SuperNight.
The possibility of the four-car Tickford team reducing to two has also been of interest, a move that would allow Blanchard Racing Team to expand to two cars and see Supercars retain two Teams Racing Charters in a bid to create a 24-car field. Should Waters re-sign and the team reduce to a two-car operation, then James Courtney, Thomas Randle and Declan Fraser would be left competing for one seat.
On the sidelines, there’s also the case of Richie Stanaway, who has revealed he is interested in a full-time return to the series. The Kiwi is contracted to Triple Eight Race Engineering to partner with van Gisbergen for this year’s enduros and is thought to be a contender for a seat in the team when van Gisbergen departs.
Super2 series leader Zak Best is another hat in the ring, running in his fourth season in the sport’s second tier. Best has finished runner-up the past two Super2 seasons but has already proved himself in the main game, claiming a shock pole at The Bend last year as a wildcard.
The 2023 Supercars season resumes on August 18-20 at The Bend.
Header Image: Supercars
