Serious allegations led sponsors to leave Supercars team

Brodie Kostecki's short-lived exit from Erebus Motorsport can be traced back to a series of incidents that compromised relationships, cost the team millions of dollars, and left sponsors asking serious questions.

Midway through the 2023 Supercars season, Kostecki and his teammate Will Brown approached Erebus Motorsport owner Betty Klimenko with concerns about the team's environment.

What followed set the wheels in motion for Kostecki to reconsider his future at Erebus Motorsport and attempt to leave.

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In July, it was announced Kostecki planned to race in the NASCAR Cup Series at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with Richard Childress Racing. Prior to that announcement, Kostecki sought sponsorship from Erebus Motorsport and a deal was agreed to.

Despite reaching an agreement, the team's attitude towards Kostecki racing in the USA changed. Wide World of Sports understands Erebus Motorsport was going to tip in more than $10,000 in sponsorship money but walked away from that agreement, leaving Kostecki and his management team with a funding shortfall for the NASCAR program.

The first renders of Kostecki's car in mid-July were pictured with Erebus Motorsport on the rear quarter panel but a week later the team's name vanished in subsequent renders released before the race.

Around the same time, Brown was negotiating an early exit from his contract with Erebus Motorsport to join Triple Eight Race Engineering where he would replace NASCAR-bound Shane van Gisbergen.

In August, while Kostecki was in North America preparing for his NASCAR debut, a meeting was called to confirm Brown's departure. It's understood that the meeting went pear-shaped and stressed the relationship between Kostecki and the team.

Later that month, Kostecki returned to Australia for the eighth round of the Supercars season at The Bend Motorsport Park where tension between them was left to simmer and continued for months after.

Kostecki won the Supercars drivers' championship at the season-ending Adelaide 500 in November and Erebus Motorsport claimed the teams' championship.

Before Kostecki expressed his plans to walk, it's understood Erebus Motorsport parted company with Erebus Motorsport CEO Barry Ryan briefly at the season's end only for him to be reinstated.

As previously reported by WWOS, efforts were made during the off-season by Klimenko to appease Kostecki. On January 25, it was announced Brad Tremain had been promoted from crew chief to team principal. It's understood the team took that measure to create space between Kostecki and Ryan.

However, the driver was still unhappy and felt he couldn't be part of the team. On January 30 news broke that Kostecki would miss the first round of the 2024 season at Mount Panorama. Erebus Motorsport confirmed that news a day later on January 31.

Dialogue continued between Kostecki and Erebus Motorsport and it's understood the team offered the driver three options.

WWOS believes one of the options tabled was for Kostecki to buy himself out of his contract but it's understood that was subsequently taken off the table.

That left Kostecki with two choices; either race for Erebus Motorsport and see out his contract to the end of the season or leave Erebus Motorsport and not race anywhere else in 2024.

Kostecki decided he wouldn't race and was subsequently threatened by Erebus Motorsport with litigation in early February for damages if he terminated his driving contract. Erebus Motorsport alleged Kostecki's communications with sponsors led them to pull support.

Wide World of Sports is aware of at least five sponsors who claim to have cut ties with Erebus Motorsport because of the Kostecki saga.

Sponsors who spoke to WWOS on the condition of anonymity said there were multiple reasons why they withdrew support from Erebus Motorsport, including but not limited to a wholesale driver line-up change.

The sponsors raised concerns about serious allegations from multiple sources which they claimed were causational factors in Kostecki's efforts to split with the team.

The sponsors said their decision to leave was not based on one singular complaint.

The sponsors said they were frustrated and expected the sport to have a responsibility to investigate allegations that it knew about.

The sponsors said Kostecki's return to the team made those issues moot and that the lack of an investigation had left serious claims unexamined.

The sponsors said they couldn't have their brand associated with the team while allegations went unchecked and that the absence of an investigation had left them open to ridicule.

The sponsors also said they were kept in the dark by the team and were only told by Erebus Motorsport that Kostecki would miss the season opener shortly before it was made official publicly.

The sponsors said Erebus Motorsport deserved the opportunity to defend itself against any allegations.

Erebus Motorsport declined to comment when approached by WWOS.https://twitter.com/smclaughlin93/status/1753536528578417025

A Motorsport Australia spokesperson told WWOS that no formal complaint from Kostecki had been received. Motorsport Australia also confirmed the FIA had not made the governing body aware of any complaints.

A Supercars spokesperson told WWOS the driver made no formal complaint with championship organisers. The same spokesperson said there had been no investigation by Supercars into the matter.

In an open letter published in February, Supercars CEO Shane Howard said he had been in dialogue with Kostecki, Ryan, and Klimenko. 

In the statement published on the official Supercars website, he acknowledged "The circumstances at hand are ultimately a matter between the owners and management of Erebus Motorsport and their contracted driver, Brodie Kostecki."

Kostecki sat out rounds one and two of the year, the Bathurst 500 on February 23-25 and the Melbourne SuperSprint on March 21-24. On April 8, the team confirmed Kostecki would return for the Taupo 400 on April 19-21. 

Kostecki has not yet said why he decided to return. WWOS understands Kostecki's long-time mentor Paul Morris negotiated with Klimenko on the driver's behalf.