ALBURY, New South Wales, Australia — Team Preview by Race Chaser Online V8 Supercars Correspondent James Pike — Robert Cianflone/ Getty Images AsiaPac photo —
Welcome back to Race Chaser Online’s Preview of the 2015 V8 Supercars Championship! We continue our run through the field with a look at the three-car team built from Brad Jones Racing and their satellite operation at Britek Motorsport!
Brad Jones Racing / Britek Motorsport (via REC)
DRIVERS:
No. 8 – Jason Bright, Team BOC Holden Commodore VF
No. 14 – Fabian Coulthard, Freightliner Holden Commodore VF
No. 21 – Dale Wood, Advam Racing / Team GB Holden Commodore VF (Britek Motorsport)
2014 TEAM POINTS FINISH: 4th/ 16th
2014 HIGHLIGHT MOMENT: The four podium finishes for Fabian and Jason in a six-race stretch between Symmons Plains and Pukekohe/ Dale’s third-place finish in the Winton opener
Admittedly, it’s hard to believe that a fourth-place finish in the team points can be considered a down year for Brad Jones Racing in 2014, but that is precisely the case — at least when compared to 2013.
Numbers for BJR were down across the board; this is best summarized by the eight podiums claimed last year compared to 19 during the 2013 season. Jason Bright suffered the greater drop of the two drivers – he only found the podium once throughout the entire season (via his victory at Pukekohe). In fact, his most memorable moment was far from a highlight – V8 Supercar fans remember his season last year for the awful flip and barrel roll he had on Sunday at the Clipsal 500.
Fabian Coulthard also suffered a drop in performance from 2013, though it was far less significant than Bright’s drop-off. Even though he would call his campaign disappointing, Coulthard still finished the season with seven podiums, 14 top-five finishes, and an average finish of 8.7. Notably though, Coulthard beat Bright in the driver’s standings for the second year in the row – and increased the point margin to Bright in 2014 from 2013 (504 from 120).
With that in mind, it is not out of the question to question whether or not Jason Bright is still the No. 1 driver at BJR — another season behind the No. 14 in the points, and this team might become Fabian Coulthard’s and not Bright’s.
BJR also manages the REC of Britek Motorsport, home to one Dale Wood. Wood did manage a podium last season at Winton, but only recorded one more top-10 finish throughout all of 2014. Of the full-time drivers in the standings, Wood only managed to beat Wilson Security Racing GRM’s Robert Dahlgren in the drivers points, and Dahlgren has left V8 Supercars and returned to his native Sweden in 2015.
The pressure will be on Wood to improve by any level – his 2014 was simply abysmal, and another season spent running at the back of the field will bring questions about both his and his equipment’s ability to truly compete at this level of motorsport.
On the surface, the drop-off in 2014 seems to be less of an actual drop in quality at BJR, and more of the drop-off that can occur after a team has an above-average year. There are multiple NASCAR drivers that have fallen prey to this effect (recently, examples of this include Carl Edwards’ 2012 season and Brad Keselowski’s 2013) and supporters of BJR should not be worried long-term about this team’s fortunes.
Instead, BJR fans should look forward to a better 2015. It might not be the halcyon that 2013 was, but BJR has worked harder than normal in the offseason to prepare for 2015, and that extra work should pay off in the form of increased podiums and victories.
