2024 Supercars Championship: 10 pre-season talking points

There are some serious nerves among teams, drivers and the Supercars organisation itself ahead of this weekend’s season-opening round, the Bathurst 500 at Mount Panorama.

Pit-lane upheaval and an off-season as dramatic as the racing itself has left even more questions hanging in the balance ahead of the first race – beyond the usual new driver and team combinations, which are there in abundance, too.

Here are 10 of the major controversies, questions and challenges going into the 2024 Supercars Championship.

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1. Reigning champ Brodie Kostecki’s abrupt absence

One of the biggest shocks in years, 2023 Supercars champion Brodie Kostecki will not be on the grid for Round 1 this weekend – and perhaps not at all in 2024.

Rumours of a serious rift between the driver and Erebus team manager Barry Ryan – supposedly festering since mid-last season – boiled over in the off-season.

Team-mate Will Brown also announced he was leaving the Erebus team last August despite both drivers being title contenders at the time.

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The yet-to-be-revealed issues, subject to legal action, prompted Kostecki to march, Supercars to issue a strange open letter to fans which themselves only fuelled speculation and made the situation even more intriguing.

Will Kostecki return this year – if so, will it be with Erebus or will another team boss be able to coax him to a rival?

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2. Coca-Cola changes its taste

Days after Kostecki’s news, Coca-Cola pulled its naming-rights sponsorship of Erebus – despite the outfit winning both drivers; and teams' titles in 2023 emblazoned with the soft-drink maker’s logo. 

Adding insult to injury, Coca-Cola livery turned up on the back half of Thomas Randle’s 2024 Tickford Racing Mustang…

It made for an intriguing first test as the reigning champions rolled out a plain white, near-sponsorless Chevrolet Camaro – with Kostecki’s fill-in Todd Hazelwood cheekily wearing the number one on the car.

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The team will not be permitted – by Supercars sporting regulations – to run number one this season, a privilege only afforded to the current champion, Kostecki.

Hazelwood is the second of two new drivers, with former Matt Stone Racing’s (MSR) Jack Le Brocq replacing the departed Will Brown.

The turmoil gives Erebus a point to prove at Bathurst this weekend – and beyond – to show if it can continue to be front-runner despite the controversy.

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3. New parity changes: will they work? The 2023 season will be remembered as being mired in politics thanks to serious parity issues with the introduction of the Gen3 Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro.

Ford did not win a race (barring an opening round Camaro disqualification) until July 2023 – and while it swept the final four of the season, the damage was already done.

A bitter parity feud divided fans and caused driver blow-ups on live TV, spilling over into press conferences as even more heated arguments raged behind closed doors.

To remedy this – after multiple changes to the cars throughout 2023 – the Mustang’s 5.4-litre V8 has been reworked in the off-season, with responsibility for it moving from Herrod Performance to Dick Johnson Racing.

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The Mustang and Camaro have also undergone new aerodynamic testing by Supercars in the US, something many in pit-lane have applauded as showing the category is genuine about having a level playing field between the two makes.

A seemingly resentful Ford has since pulled its Safety Car and other sponsorships from Supercars, and its US headquarters will watch this weekend’s round closely as a gauge to its future in the category.

Tim Edwards – who replaced Adrian Burgess as Supercars General Manager of Motorsport late last year – has a tough task to ensure the worm doesn’t turn too far the other way, too…

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4. DJR’s guru quits…

If Lewis Hamilton moving to Ferrari is big, think of Ludo Lacroix leaving Dick Johnson Racing (DJR) as controversial as say Adrian Newey leaving Red Bull’s F1 team (an ongoing rumour).

Celebrated engineering guru Lacroix was an integral part of Red Bull-backed Triple Eight Race Engineering in the heydays of Whincup and Lowndes.

The Frenchman departed for DJR in 2017 as Scott McLaughlin arrived – the team having immense success with three teams and drivers championships as well as a Bathurst 1000 victory.

Every Scott McLaughlin Ford win was under Lacroix, taking nothing away from race engineer Richard Harris.

In 2023, DJR took only one race win.

Moving to PremiAir Racing – a team yet to get on the podium let alone win a Supercars race – presents an immense challenge but also a huge opportunity.

Can Lacroix make the difference? After all, talent draws talent…

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5. …Yet DJR’s messiah returns

A familiar face returns to the DJR garage in Dr Ryan Story.

Story returns as Team Principal after stepping down at the end of 2020 due to health issues.

The proud South Australian combines an immense, number-crunching intellect with fierce competitiveness and formidable political acumen.

He consolidates the skill of the team, and his return to the DJR garage is a massive morale booster for the team – given the flat 2023 and the departure of Lacroix.

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There’s also the challenge of the engine program and the aero testing as parity work continues on the Gen3 cars as they enter their second season.

They also come up on a reborn Tickford Racing as well as increasingly competitive Grove Racing outfit – that’s on top of Triple Eight’s consistent threat and champions Erebus.

“Ryan is like a son to me and to welcome him back into this role means the world to all of us,” said Dick Johnson, who still attends every Supercars round.

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6. Shane van Gisbergen’s ever-long shadow

Who will fill Shane Van Gisbergen’s shoes? Universally praised as one of the best drivers in the world – especially after his astounding win on debut at last July’s NASCAR Chicago street race – the 34-year-old Kiwi’s star power will be sorely missed by fans and promoters alike.

Often painted the villain due to his shy, quiet demeanour yet ferocious competitiveness behind the wheel, van Gisbergen’s ability to make something from nothing – winning with a broken collar bone, performing miraculous overtakes and saving tyres for late-race sprints from behind – was a spectacle itself.

A leader out of the car, perhaps begrudgingly, SVG was mates with Kostecki, who as 2023 champion looked set to be the new pin-up – but that, too has gone awry.

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It’s the second time in recent history – discounting Kostecki – a star with a large fan base has departed, after McLaughlin’s move to NASCAR at the end of 2020.

Will Brown takes SVG’s seat at Triple Eight Race Engineering, but, while likeable, he’s yet to establish himself as the new king – if he can.

Ford’s Chaz Mostert is a fan favourite, as is Cam Waters – and then there’s Randle, as well as rookies such as Ryan Wood at Walkinshaw Andretti United who could steal the show.

Yet how do you replace a once-in-a-generation talent like SVG? Simple: you don’t even try.

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7. Will Brown vs Broc Feeney at Triple Eight

Will Brown secured the most coveted seat in pit-lane when he confirmed he’ll be taking Shane van Gisbergen’s vacant seat at Triple Eight Engineering in 2024.

He’ll drive alongside incumbent Broc Feeney – who’s fast become part of the furniture at the team with six Supercars wins and impressive results in GT Racing.

Feeney is used to being the up-and-comer, the new kid on the block at the Banyo, Queensland-based squad.

Having one of the greats – van Gisbergen – on the other side of the garage has been a blessing and a curse, a measurable yardstick also bringing inflated performance expectations.

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With van Gisbergen now in NASCAR, the arrival of Brown – who battled Kostecki for the early 2023 championship lead – could be a thorn in the side of Feeney’s already impressive career.

Red Bull has a history of (mostly) being able to manage two highly competitive drivers at the same, and the jovial Brown and Feeney appear to have got on well in pre-season promotions.

Yet once the helmets are on, the battle between the pair to assert dominance in the Triple Eight garage will begin.

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8. Tickford halves its team, adds new CEO

Tickford Racing has downsized from four to two cars – the first time since 2015 – with Cam Waters and Thomas Randle in the #6 and #55 Mustangs.

That will put Randle – in his third full-time Supercars season – under the spotlight against the supremely quick Waters, with the team facing fewer distractions managing two gun drivers instead of a group of four.

Tickford also has a new CEO – Simon Brookhouse, who replaces Tim Edwards after 19 years with the team.

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Brookhouse’s appointment follows the trend set by DJR in hiring a sports administrator – in its case, former AFL Kangaroos coach David Noble – to head its operations.

Brookhouse comes from building the Tasmanian National Basketball League team, the JackJumpers.

With no Edwards, fewer cars and a new leader – as well as that somewhat sudden Coca-Cola cash – where will Tickford end up in 2024?

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9. Redemption for Richie Stanaway

New Zealand fans lamenting the loss of SVG have a driver who is even more quietly spoken yet is seeking racing redemption.

Stanaway arrived in 2017 with an impressive resume, including wins in Formula One-feeder series GP3 and GP2, and a victories in the World Endurance Championship with Aston Martin.

His win in the Sandown 500 that year with Waters looked ominous, but after two full-time seasons – one with Tickford who dropped him before he was picked up by Garry Rogers Motorsport – Stanaway was left without a drive.

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It was countryman van Gisbergen who brought Stanaway back into the fold, the pair combining to win last year’s Bathurst 1000.

Yet the role of an endurance co-driver is significantly different to the demands of a full-time gig, and Stanaway has a serious point to prove.

Helping him is an ambitious Grove Racing outfit that’s on the rise – having won the last race of 2023 – and the fact that Stanaway makes his first full-time return at the site of his last Supercars race, that victorious Bathurst.

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10. No clear title contender: The most open championship in years

Kostecki’s absence and SVG’s move to NASCAR means Broc Feeney will be the highest-placed 2023 championship finisher of those on the grid at Round 1.

The most recent champion in the 2024 field? Mark ‘Frosty’ Winterbottom, now 42 years old, who took the title almost a decade ago (2015).

With Kostecki’s 2024 season up in the air, talk has moved to Ford drivers Chaz Mostert and Waters as title favourites, as well as Red Bull Ampol Racing’s Will Brown and Broc Feeney.

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But where will Erebus end up? Or Team 18, winners in Darwin last year who now have David Reynolds alongside Winterbottom; and Blanchard Racing Team (BRT) where James Courtney has taken arrived with a second car?

Can any of the three 2024 Supercars rookies – Ryan Wood, Aaron Love and Jaxon Evans – make a significant impact?

Yet again, there’s no clear driver – like van Gisbergen, McLaughlin, Whincup or Lowndes of years before – to take the title, and that’s not a bad thing.