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BATHURST 1000 Erebus Academy driver Jack Le Brocq has received a boost ahead of the highly anticipated Dunlop Development Series endurance race at Bathurst after being paired with former championship winning engineer Nathan Leech for the 250 kilometre feature event. In a further show of support for Le Brocq by the Erebus Academy, the youngster will work alongside Leech, who engineered Scott McLaughlin to his 2012 Development Series win before progressing to V8 Supercars. Currently driving an ex-Stone Brothers Racing FG Falcon, Le Brocq and Leech ramped up their preparations for Bathurst with a test day last week at Winton. “With the limited amount of time that Jack has had in a supercar, he is coming along really well, and is outperforming a lot of drivers who have been driving supercars for a while, so given his limited time in the seat, he’s doing really well,” Leech said. “We spent Monday at the workshop before we headed to Winton on Tuesday where we had a really good day and got through quite a lot, including some more procedural-based things that we’ll need to do at the Bathurst round, so it was all very promising.” As a member of the academy since March 2013, Le Brocq has earned opportunities such as co-driving the Erebus Motorsport GT SLS AMG GT3 in the Australian GT Championship in 2013 and 2014. He also competed in the 2014 Bathurst 12 Hour race, where he finished on the podium alongside co-drivers Will Davison and Greg Crick. “I’ve been a member of the Erebus Academy for over a year now and I’ve been given some fantastic opportunities like driving the SLS, and being supported in my Dunlop Series drive this year,” Le Brocq said. “To have this extra support for the 250 kilometre race at Bathurst is very exciting, especially as Nathan has a lot of experience with the Development Series. “We’ve already had some great results this year with Image Racing, especially at Barbagallo and Ipswich, but all supercars are just a bit different, and to have Nathan on board with his experience and knowledge, having worked with the FG Falcon when it was with Stone Brothers Racing, further strengthens our package for Bathurst. “It will be great for me and also for Image Racing, and everyone is really looking forward to working together to see what we can do.” Leech will continue to work with Le Brocq and Image Racing in the lead up to Bathurst where the Erebus Motorsport V8 crew will also assist with the compulsory pit stop during the 41-lap race. “I’ve kept an eye on Jack, especially with his GT racing, and even with his experience in the SLS at Bathurst, it’s a very unique circuit. So more than anything we’ll need to ensure that Jack has a lot of seat time in the supercar around there, and then solidly set up a fast car,” Leech said. “But the priority will be getting him to adapt to driving the circuit in a supercar, so the goal is to get him to do as many laps as he can before the race, so he’s comfortable in the car.”

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