Matthew Brabham has been dropped as Team 18’s co-driver for this year’s Pirtek Enduro Cup rounds of the Supercars Championship, with his place taken by Jason Bright.
Brabham, the grandson of three-time Formula 1 World Champion Sir Jack Brabham, was originally set to be Lee Holdsworth’s co-driver for the long-distance Sandown 500, Bathurst 1000 and Gold Coast 600 events.
The youngster has, however, endured a troubled preparation for his maiden co-driver outings, with the nadir being a heavy crash during testing at Winton Raceway in May which cost the single-car team one of its three allocated in-season test days.
Team owner Charlie Schwerkolt has since made the call to replace Brabham with Jason Bright, who called time on his full-time racing career at the end of last season. Bright had, up until now, been a surprise omission from endurance racing grid given his recent experience.
“Our team has made a really tough call and has asked Matt Brabham to step aside for our 2018 enduro campaign,” Schwerkolt explained.
“Our category is so competitive and with limited test days it makes it incredibly difficult to get up to speed.
“Matty’s an amazing guy with incredible potential. The team and I are really thankful for his time and we look forward to seeing him again soon with Preston Hire Racing.
“I’d really like to welcome Jason Bright in joining the team and filling in at such short notice. He has a wealth of experience and [we] look forward to seeing what he can bring to the team.”
| 2018 Australian Supercars Championship – Pirtek Enduro Cup Entry List | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team / Entry | Driver | Co-Driver | ||
| 1. | Triple Eight Race Engineering |  |
 |
Jamie Whincup | Paul Dumbrell |
| 2. | Walkinshaw Andretti United |  |
|
Scott Pye | Warren Luff |
| 5. | Tickford Racing |  |
 |
Mark Winterbottom | Dean Canto |
| 6. | Tickford Racing | |
|
Cameron Waters | James Moffat |
| 7. | Nissan Motorsport |  |
 |
Andre Heimgartner | Aaren Russell |
| 8. | Brad Jones Racing |  |
|
Nick Percat | Macauley Jones |
| 9. | Erebus Motorsport |  |
|
David Reynolds | Luke Youlden |
| 12. | DJR Team Penske |  |
|
Fabian Coulthard | Tony D’Alberto |
| 14. | Brad Jones Racing | |
|
Tim Slade | Ashley Walsh |
| 15. | Nissan Motorsport | |
|
Rick Kelly | Garry Jacobson |
| 17. | DJR Team Penske | |
|
Scott McLaughlin | Alexandre Prémat |
| 18. | Charlie Schwerkolt Racing |  |
|
Lee Holdsworth | Jason Bright |
| 19. | TEKNO Autosports |  |
|
Jack Le Brocq | Jonathon Webb |
| 21. | Tim Blanchard Racing (BJR) |  |
|
Tim Blanchard | Dale Wood |
| 23. | Nissan Motorsport | |
|
Michael Caruso | Dean Fiore |
| 25. | Walkinshaw Andretti United | |
|
James Courtney | Jack Perkins |
| 33. | Garry Rogers Motorsport |  |
|
Garth Tander | Richard Muscat |
| 34. | Garry Rogers Motorsport | |
|
James Golding | Chris Pither |
| 35. | Matt Stone Racing |  |
|
Todd Hazelwood | Bryce Fullwood |
| 55. | Tickford Racing | |
|
Chaz Mostert | James Moffat |
| 56. | Tickford Racing | |
|
Richie Stanaway | Steve Owen |
| 78. | Nissan Motorsport | |
|
Simona de Silvestro | Alex Rullo |
| 97. | Triple Eight Race Engineering | |
|
Shane van Gisbergen | Earl Bamber |
| 99. | Erebus Motorsport | |
|
Anton de Pasquale | Will Brown |
| 230. | 23Red Racing |  |
|
Will Davison | Alex Davison |
| 888. | Triple Eight Race Engineering | |
|
Craig Lowndes | Steven Richards |
Image via Team18
Geoff Burke
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