Silly Season Surprises
With the 2020 Supercars season ending somewhat prematurely at Bathurst mid-October, silly season talk has begun in earnest.
Other than DJR Team Penske, Triple 8 and Tickford, a notable team to have a driver stand on the podium’s top step is Brad Jones Racing. With strategy changes around fast sprint formats and quick pitstops being key, the Albury squad have adapted and secured multiple wins with Nick Percat and a maiden podium for Todd Hazelwood.
Whilst Jack Smith has failed to land a punch, it’s the Cooldrive car driven by Macauley Jones that has shown glimpses of speed in the youngster’s second full time season.
So why does BJR feature in the silly season mix? Because if you believe pit lane chatter, Cooldrive and the Racing Entitlements Contract owned by Tim Blanchard are on the move to setup their own single car squad and break away from their BJR home of the last four seasons.
The spectacular exit of Phil Munday’s 23Red Racing gave path for a returning James Courtney and the ever-opinionated Peter Adderton, of Boost Mobile fame, which made for interesting fodder during the COVID-induced mid-season break. It seems that with Cooldrive leaving Albury, BJR have swooped in to collect what is their third REC. It means that BJR can field four cars again in 2021. Peter Smith, Jack’s father, owns the forth REC run by BJR.
This extraordinary and ever changing landscape could perhaps lead Courtney and Adderton looking once again for a new home, whilst speculation continues to mount over the future of DJR Team Penske – is the Captain in or out?
Typically entries for the following Supercars season are lodged in October, aligning with the Team Owners AGM held at the Gold Coast Street Circuit. Race News has multiple sources confirming that while the Team Owners AGM will be held a little earlier this year at the final round at Bathurst, the entry deadline has been extended. Not by days or weeks, but months from its traditional date. All this as a result of the economic turmoil and subsequent recession that the coronavirus has brought to our shores in addition to ubiquitous face masks, social distancing and duct tape crosses on the floor of your local coffee shop or eatery – at least for those not living in Melbourne, who remain in home detention…
It’s safe to say that there’s plenty more intrigue to come after the chequered flag falls at Bathurst in a few weeks time.
