{"id":882962,"date":"2026-09-07T06:46:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T06:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/882962\/"},"modified":"2026-09-07T06:46:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T06:46:15","slug":"supercars-news-djr-recalls-strategy-guru-for-enduro-cup-bid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/882962\/","title":{"rendered":"Supercars news: DJR recalls strategy guru for Enduro Cup bid"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/038-Kostecki-EV10-25-MH6_9621.jpg\" class=\"sc-hero-img\" alt=\"DJR recalls strategy guru for Enduro Cup bid\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBlake Smith (top left) with Todd Hazelwood, George Commins and Brodie Kostecki. Image: Supplied <\/p>\n<p>Smith joined DJR for the first time in last year\u2019s enduros having played a similar role during Erebus Motorsport\u2019s triumphant 2024 Bathurst 1000 campaign.<\/p>\n<p>The addition makes use of regulations allowing teams to take additional performance personnel to the track at The Bend and Bathurst.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s a very experienced engineer,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s someone who was a race engineer here at DJR back in 2012 and was a key part of James Courtney\u2019s championship back in 2010.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was the data engineer on the cars back in that time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s got an enormous amount of experience and he basically assists the race engineers with tactics and strategy throughout those longer races.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Story added the enduros are \u201call about execution\u201d, noting the additional challenges include dealing with the return of the fuel rigs.<\/p>\n<p>However, Story admits two major concerns heading into the AirTouch 500 at The Bend are outside of the team\u2019s control.<\/p>\n<p>Engine reliability and brake component issues struck during the Queensland Raceway weekend, which ended the Sprint Cup.<\/p>\n<p>Two Fords suffered engine trouble at Ipswich \u2013 Grove Racing\u2019s Matt Payne hit by a camshaft chain breakage and DJR\u2019s Rylan Gray impacted by a camshaft actuator failure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was something we\u2019ve seen before, but the nature of the failure with the actuator was different,\u201d said Story of Gray\u2019s engine problem.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut it\u2019s something that\u2019s completely outside our control.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Triple Eight is responsible for the Ford engine program, it\u2019s been up to Supercars to deal with the brake situation.<\/p>\n<p>Putting the Ipswich failures down to batch issues, the category has arranged for supplier Ferodo to fly in replacements from the UK, <a href=\"https:\/\/speedcafe.com\/supercars-news-2026-bend-500-schedule-practice-brake-pads-untimed-explained\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">with a dedicated brake bedding session to take place on Friday.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a significant effort to get this thing under control,\u201d Story said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe most important thing is to make sure everyone has the same opportunity to go well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSupercars have had their work cut out to get on top of this and they\u2019ve made good progress.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s another thing you don\u2019t want to have to be thinking about or committing any effort or energy to in the lead-up to these races.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>The team has retained its co-drivers Todd Hazlwood and Tony D\u2019Alberto; the former again pairing with Brodie Kostecki and the latter this year joining rookie Rylan Gray.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Blake Smith (top left) with Todd Hazelwood, George Commins and Brodie Kostecki. Image: Supplied Smith joined DJR for&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":882963,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,53842,2498,806,805,803,804,12357,85],"class_list":["post-882962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-blake-smith","tag-dick-johnson-racing","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-slot1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=882962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/882963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=882962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=882962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=882962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}