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Motorsport
Sport
Andrew van Leeuwen

BRT closing in on 2023 driver decision

The single-car Supercars squad will part ways with current driver Tim Slade at the end of the season after failing to agree to terms for a new deal.

Slade is tipped to join PremiAir Racing, likely taking over Chris Pither's spot at the newest squad in the category.

It was initially expected that Lee Holdsworth would fill the vacancy left at BRT by Slade, given the likelihood he would be pushed out of Grove Racing to make way for Matt Payne.

However earlier this week Holdsworth took himself off the market by announcing that he will retire from full-time Supercars racing at the end of this year.

Holdsworth's retirement has left Zane Goddard as a prime candidate for the BRT drive, given the development work he has done for Supercars on the Gen3 project.

Fabian Coulthard is another driver likely to be under consideration, the Kiwi known to have spoken to the team before it had all but decided on Holdsworth.

Other drivers eyeing a full-time seat include Jayden Ojeda, Tickford-aligned Zak Best and Triple Eight Super2 pair Declan Fraser and Cam Hill.

Motorsport.com understands there are still as many as four drivers in the mix for the seat, although BRT owner Tim Blanchard is remaining tight-lipped on who they are.

He did, however, confirm that Goddard is under consideration and said a decision could happen soon.

"We were looking at Lee quite a bit, but he made the decision to retire and take up the role at [commercial real estate firm] CBRE," Blanchard told Motorsport.com.

"I think it was the right decision for him, it's a fantastic opportunity he's got there. That was definitely the right decision for Lee.

"We're looking at a number of different options. We're pretty close to having something sorted, we're just assessing our options."

Elsewhere the silly season is mostly sorted ahead of the 2023 season.

There will be no change at Triple Eight, Dick Johnson Racing, Matt Stone Racing, Erebus Motorsport or Walkinshaw Andretti United.

Brad Jones Racing is currently expected to continue with its line-up as is Team 18, while Grove Racing is set to pair Payne with David Reynolds, although the Bathurst winner is yet to formally ink a new deal.

That leaves BRT, PremiAir Racing and Tickford Racing as the question marks, the latter having four drivers under contract, but also looking to promote Best to the main game.

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