BROWN PROMOTION HINTS AT MCLAUGHLIN EXIT

Will Brown promotion hits at Scott McLaughlin exit – Photo: LAT

The news that Will Brown will make the step up as a full-time Supercars driver with Erebus Motorsport in 2021 may have already confirmed the departure of reigning champion Scott McLaughlin at the end of the 2020 season.

By DAN McCARTHY

In the lead up to Christmas, Erebus announced that it had signed the charismatic Queenslander Will Brown to join its main game team in 2021 following the conclusion of the 2020 Super2 Series, in which he will drive for the Erebus Academy and Image Racing.

The 21-year-old has raced for Erebus Motorsport in the Pirtek Endurance Cup alongside Anton de Pasquale the last two years, but will pair up with 2017 Bathurst 1000 winner David Reynolds in 2020.

It is possible that the Victorian-based squad could field a three car line up for the 2021 Supercars Championship, but this seems unlikely as recent history would show.

Lately Supercars teams have turned against the idea of running three car or single car squads, instead electing to run either two or four car for a variety of reasons. Running a team with an even amount of cars according to team owners is much more sustainable and viable as well as giving squads small advantages such as not sharing a pit boom with a rival team.

For the 2020 season Brad Jones Racing has expanded from three to four cars, while both Matt Stone Racing and Team 18 have also grown from a single car effort to bigger two car teams.

In September last year David Reynolds signed a 10 year contract with the Erebus Motorsport team and is unlikely to already be shifted to a co-driver position just one season into the deal.

However in the #99 car de Pasquale showed great promise throughout 2019 and broke through to score his first two podiums.

Despite having only competed full-time in the Supercars Championship for two years, the popular 24-year-old has been already been linked to DJR Team Penske and is the likely suspect to move into the team in 2021 replacing the American bound McLaughlin.

In which case the Brown move made late last year may be the first piece of the DJR Team Penske puzzle confirming McLaughlin’s exit.

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