MOTORSPORT: Our man calls it a day

In great news for lovers of our high-performance road tests, carsales’ resident slideways superstar Luke Youlden has freed up his calendar so we can call on his services more often.

Or to put it another way, with 20 Bathurst 1000s under his belt and a win in the 2017 edition of the Great Race with David Reynolds, Luke has decided to retire from Supercars racing.

We’re glad and sad at the same time. Having more time with Luke and his amazing car control will be cool, but we also loved settling down in front of the telly each October to barrack for our man at Bathurst.

Luke has realised it’s time for the next chapter in his life. At 41 he’s a father of two young kids and has a burgeoning career in driver training and – of course – with carsales.com.au.

“My life outside Supercars is hectic and busy, and that is where my future is,” he said.

“I’ll miss it for sure – it’s been a huge part of my life for 20 years.”

Luke was mulling the decision before the 2019 endurance season began and by the time it was finished he knew what he had to do.

It’s hard when you’re a grown-up to consistently compete with all those hungry, ambitious teenagers and 20-somethings desperate to make a name for themselves in Supercars racing and happy to spend 24/7 doing it.

“This team [Erebus] is fighting for race wins and Bathurst wins and I feel they need someone who can match Dave [Reynolds],” Luke told us.

“Just looking at it from a team perspective, I don’t want to be selfish and take that spot up.

“It’s getting increasingly difficult to just turn up off the couch and race at the top level for three races and then jump back on the couch and not race one of these things for eight months,” he added.

“I’ve basically done that for 20 years and I think I have done a pretty good job of just turning up and doing it with basically no miles.

“I am pretty proud of that fact that I have been able to hang in there so long without really any backing behind me.”

It’s not a complete separation from the sport for Luke. Erebus Motorsport will retain him as a coach and mentor, especially for young drivers in the burgeoning Erebus Academy.

“I can’t thank Erebus enough,” he said. “I was never going to drive [Supercars] anywhere else after driving here.”

And Luke will keep himself sharp in other forms of racing, including GTs. It’s hard to imagine a bloke nicknamed 11/10ths would ever be able to go cold turkey!

Luke’s a unique animal in Aussie Supercars racing. After winning the national Formula Ford series in 2000 – back in the days when it was a really big deal – he graduated to V8 tin-tops by scoring an endurance drive for the legendary Larry Perkins.

That very first year he shared a Perkins Motorsport VT Commodore with Christian Murchison – a Singapore-born Perth-based bloke you’ve probably never heard of – and they were running inside the top five when the car broke.

Since then Luke’s raced for Steven Ellery Racing, Stone Brothers Racing, Ford Performance Racing, Brad Jones Racing, DJR Team Penske and Erebus Motorsport.

He has shared cars with such notables as Russell Ingall, Will Davison, Mark Winterbottom, Shane van Gisbergen, Fabian Coulthard and David Reynolds.

Over the years he podiumed at the Sandown 500, the Phillip Island 500, the Gold Coast 600 (including 2019) and – of course – the Bathurst 1000, topped off by that fabulous day in October 2017 in the Penrite Commodore ZB.

Considering all that it’s amazing Luke never started a Supercars sprint race as a solo driver in his entire career. It’s an almost unbelievable stat, especially considering he missed out on the 2004 V8 development series title to Andrew Jones on a countback.

There were main game offers over the next few years, but the opportunities never quite came together. It all used to frustrate him, but now he’s mellowed a bit. It’s become a badge of honour.

“I’ve accepted it as it is what it is,” Luke says. “I am proud that I haven’t had the same experience as these guys … but I am able to cut it and still do 2:05 at Bathurst.

“The guys like the Greg Ritter, Tim Macrow, Jason Bright, Jason Bargwanna and all these other full-time guys, I have outlasted them. So I must be doing something OK!

“What I am most proud of is I have always been paired with the lead driver in the team, so that’s always been a positive I can take out of it.”

Luke informed Erebus owner Betty Klimenko, team boss Barry Ryan, chief engineer Alistair McVean and Reynolds of his decision a few days after the 2019 endurance series wrapped up at Sandown.

“I got some fantastic messages back from all of them,” he smiles.

Unsurprisingly, Luke nominates the Bathurst win as the highlight of his career. It is something that has helped him come to terms with stepping back.

“I have achieved what I desperately wanted to achieve,” he said. “It definitely changes your life.”

Crew chief Barry Ryan praised Luke for his years of service at Erebus.

"What Luke has done for us is incredible, and we all have so much respect for him as a driver and as a person,” he said.

“We’ve always said he is the ‘baseline’ for who we want all of our drivers to be; he’s always organised, respectful, fast, great with fans and media, and most of all a top bloke.

‘’What guys like Luke bring to an organisation is invaluable and the entire team love having him around.

“He is a great support to Dave and Anton [De Pasquale] and our young drivers as he has walked in their shoes, and with the Erebus Academy as well as other initiatives moving forward, Luke will be an integral part of that.’’

From all of us at carsales, congratulations on a wonderful Supercars career Luke!