The #99 Camaro finished seventh in the AirTouch 500 at The Bend. Image: InSyde Media
That’s the word from Erebus boss Barry Ryan, who was impressed – but not surprised – by the 21-year-old’s run against the primary drivers during his second stint on Sunday.
Erebus was the only team to start a primary driver as Cooper Murray handled the opening stint in the #99 Camaro before handing over to Stewart for his double.
Ryan said the car’s engineer Wayne Mackie had pressed the button on the alternate strategy based on the rookie co-driver’s performance in practice.
“Wayne did a really good job at managing Jobe and that car,” Ryan told Speedcafe.
“He gave him a couple of race runs in practice and gave us confidence he was going to be able to manage the tyres, no problem.
“That gave us the confidence to start Cooper, knowing that Jobe would be with main drivers at some stage.
“He did an amazing job. He passed a couple of them and drove away. It was massively impressive. It was what we thought he’d do, he just had to actually do it.
“It’s easy to think they can do it but even for them, the self-belief he’ll get from this is massive.”
Erebus rookie co-driver aces audition for full-time seat
The result was undoubtedly a shot in the arm for Stewart’s career amid a difficult second season in Super2 driving for the Erebus-affiliated Image Racing.
Stewart is a long-time Erebus Academy member and was already thought to be the leading contender to replace Jack Le Brocq in the team’s #9 Camaro next year.
Le Brocq is on the move after two seasons at Erebus, most likely to Matt Stone Racing amid a busy driver market.
“There’s still a couple more bridges to cross but we’d love to put him in main game,” said Ryan of Stewart.
“We’ve just got to get everyone together that makes the decisions, which is basically me and Betty [Klimenko], and make sure the team is comfortable with it too.
“He definitely deserves it. He’s been with us since he was 12 years of age, we’ve basically bred him to be what he is now.”
Klimenko has been open about previously pushing back on Ryan’s insistence on putting young drivers in the Erebus cars.
That included a decision to hire Anton De Pasquale in 2018 and Brodie Kostecki in 2021, with the latter example making for an all-rookie line-up alongside Will Brown.
Barry Ryan. Image: Richard Gresham
Promoting Stewart would again give Erebus two young guns, with Cooper Murray, 24, already confirmed to be staying on for a second season.
Erebus also currently has 20-year-old Jarrod Hughes on its books as a co-driver, with Ryan noting he too performed strongly alongside Le Brocq on Sunday.
Either way, Stewart is almost certain to score the promotion, with the decision to be locked in following the Bathurst 1000.
“That’s the line in the sand we’ve put,” said Ryan of the timeline.
“I’d love to have two cars because Hughesy has done an awesome job as well. But he’ll get there, he’ll be in the main game very soon.”
The Murray/Stewart Camaro finished seventh in Sunday’ race, five places ahead of Le Brocq/Hughes.