Rookie earns his spot

SUPERCAR rookie Jack Le Brocq has been fighting for a spot in the main game for years and now he’s there, the real battle begins.

Le Brocq joined an elite group of 26 supercar drivers in Australia’s premier motorsport competition when he was drafted by Tekno Autosport _ Shane van Gisbergen’s former team and the 2016 Bathurst champion team through Will Davison and Jonathon Webb.

As he prepares for Round 3 of the supercars championship at Symmons Plains this weekend, Le Brocq, 25, says he has been given the biggest opportunity of his career. “It’s really exciting,” Le Brocq said. “I’ve been trying to get here for a long time.

“I had four years in the Dunlop Series and I’ve done a fair few miles and a lot of groundwork — I’ve done the [supercar] enduros a few times. It’s awesome, a dream come true to finally get the opportunity to be here in the main game. Now I’m here I need to do a decent job, learn as much as I can and try to stay here as long as I can.”

The race craft Le Brocq learned in the development series has been an advantage.

“You learn a lot from driving the car and race set-up, but once you come into the main game the level steps up,” he said. “Every time you’re on the track you’ve got to be at 100 per cent ... otherwise you lose two, three, four tenths [of a second] and you are in the back half of the field.

“I’m learning more with every race we do.”

Le Brocq switched from racing a Nissan last year to a Triple Eight Holden ZB Commodore 635-horsepower machine, pictured, for Tekno.

“I’ve got some really good guys around me in the team and that’s a massive benefit for me,” he said. “They help me understand things a lot quicker and probably the only downside is being a single-car team. Once I get my head around how to set up the car and what I need out of that, it will make everyone’s life a lot easier and we can move forward at a faster rate.”