BJR's Strategic Restructuring: A Pre-Toyota Campaign Move
The Albury-based racing squad, BJR, is gearing up for an exciting season ahead of its Toyota campaign. The team has made strategic moves to optimize its performance, focusing on key personnel changes and internal promotions.
Supra Lineup and SCT Shift: BJR will field Supras for André Heimgartner, Macauley Jones, and the newly recruited Cam Hill. Meanwhile, the SCT Motorsport entry has transitioned to the Triple Eight platform.
Engineer Transition: A notable shift involves the highly regarded engineer Phil Keed, who previously worked with Bryce Fullwood in the #14 entry. This season, Keed moves to Heimgartner’s #8 car, bringing his expertise to a new driver.
Engineer Departures and New Roles: Tony Woodward, Heimgartner’s former engineer, has left BJR after 11 years, joining the Blanchard Racing Team as an engineering manager and engineer for James Golding. Jason Bonney, who previously held data engineer duties, steps up to take Keed’s place on the #14 car, now driven by Cam Hill.
Race Engineer Promotion: Randall Chua, who was previously a data engineer, has been promoted to race engineer on Macauley Jones’ machine, replacing Paul Scalzo. Scalzo remains the head of engineering for the three cars.
Performance Engineer Role: Julian Stannard, who previously managed the SCT car, now takes on a performance engineer role, contributing to the team’s overall performance.
Team Owner’s Perspective: Brad Jones, the team owner, emphasized the importance of these internal promotions, aligning with the BJR ethos. He highlighted the need for restructuring the engineering department as the team transitions to three cars and develops the Toyota program.
Jones expressed confidence in the team’s capabilities, noting the internal promotions as a strategic move to leverage the team’s strengths. He believes in providing opportunities and pathways for growth, praising the skills and dedication of Jason and Randall.
Toyota V8 Supercars and Homologation: BJR is currently under pressure to prepare its three Toyotas for the new season, having joined the homologation team Walkinshaw TWG. Jones acknowledged the pressure but expressed pride in the Toyota project’s progress, looking forward to the racing action ahead.
