Blake Smith (top left) with Todd Hazelwood, George Commins and Brodie Kostecki. Image: Supplied
Smith joined DJR for the first time in last year’s enduros having played a similar role during Erebus Motorsport’s triumphant 2024 Bathurst 1000 campaign.
The addition makes use of regulations allowing teams to take additional performance personnel to the track at The Bend and Bathurst.
“He’s a very experienced engineer,” explained DJR co-owner Ryan Story of Smith, whose stint in the sport as a full-time engineer included time at DJR in the early 2010s.
“He’s someone who was a race engineer here at DJR back in 2012 and was a key part of James Courtney’s championship back in 2010.
“He was the data engineer on the cars back in that time.
“He’s got an enormous amount of experience and he basically assists the race engineers with tactics and strategy throughout those longer races.”
Story added the enduros are “all about execution”, noting the additional challenges include dealing with the return of the fuel rigs.
However, Story admits two major concerns heading into the AirTouch 500 at The Bend are outside of the team’s control.
Engine reliability and brake component issues struck during the Queensland Raceway weekend, which ended the Sprint Cup.
Two Fords suffered engine trouble at Ipswich – Grove Racing’s Matt Payne hit by a camshaft chain breakage and DJR’s Rylan Gray impacted by a camshaft actuator failure.
“It was something we’ve seen before, but the nature of the failure with the actuator was different,” said Story of Gray’s engine problem.
“But it’s something that’s completely outside our control.”
While Triple Eight is responsible for the Ford engine program, it’s been up to Supercars to deal with the brake situation.
Putting the Ipswich failures down to batch issues, the category has arranged for supplier Ferodo to fly in replacements from the UK, with a dedicated brake bedding session to take place on Friday.
“There’s a significant effort to get this thing under control,” Story said.
“The most important thing is to make sure everyone has the same opportunity to go well.
“Supercars have had their work cut out to get on top of this and they’ve made good progress.
“It’s another thing you don’t want to have to be thinking about or committing any effort or energy to in the lead-up to these races.”
DJR meanwhile confirmed it will run OTR on the bonnet of its Shell V-Power Mustangs at The Bend, as it did during its victorious run 12 months ago.
The team has retained its co-drivers Todd Hazlwood and Tony D’Alberto; the former again pairing with Brodie Kostecki and the latter this year joining rookie Rylan Gray.