2024 headstart for BRT at enduros

Sandown offered a critical chance for Blanchard Racing Team to get up to speed with two cars, says team co-owner Tim Blanchard.

BRT made headlines prior to Sandown, first announcing a wildcard for both enduros before confirming its plans to expand to two cars for 2024.

The Box Hill team has operated as a single-car squad since 2021, with Todd Hazelwood taking the reins of the #3 CoolDrive Ford this season.

A wildcard, steered by the team’s Super2 driver Aaron Love and the returning Jake Kostecki, has now helped BRT ready for not only Bathurst, but for the future.

Notably, drivers were able to discuss set-ups and data, while the team got to grips with maintaining two cars and a shared pit boom on race day.

It paid initial dividends when Hazelwood scored a shock Top Ten Shootout berth at Sandown, and while the two cars finished 17th and 24th in the race, Blanchard knows it’s all part of the process.

“Bathurst is a different beast, and we’ve learnt a lot running two cars,” Blanchard said on the Schick Cool Down Lap podcast.

“Now it’s about looking at ways to improve our performance, there’s a lot we did right and a lot we can improve.”

BRT has been a team in transition this year as it prepares for the challenge of running two full-time entries next year. Early signs of expansion were shown with an entry into the Dunlop Series for Love.

While the identity of both drivers has yet to be confirmed, Blanchard said the benefits of running two cars in this year’s enduros will lay the groundwork for the team for the future.

“It’s a lot more stress, a lot more work,” Blanchard said of running two cars.

"It’s Aaron’s first weekend so he’s in the deep end, but it’s the first time this year Todd has been able to have a teammate to compare a few things against.

“As a team, we were able to try two different things in two different cars in the same conditions. There were a lot of benefits that came out of it."