Young Mount Gambier mechanic Jack Michelson may only be 19 years of age, but he is already building an impressive reputation making cars go fast in the biggest pit lane in town.

Bathurst is a long way from the Blue Lake city as the teenager rubbed shoulders with the legends of the Repco Supercars Championship and performed a vital role as the number three mechanic on Brodie Kostecki’s #99 Holden ZB Commodore.

Although Michelson has been with Erebus Motorsport for the best part three seasons, 2021 was his first full season on the road.

It proved to be an exhausting campaign which started and finished with races around the iconic Mount Panorama circuit, while also incorporating a ground-breaking quadruple header at Sydney Motorsport Park.

The crazy schedule also had a 104-day hole bitten out of it due to COVID-19 regulations, but none of those hurdles stopped Michelson and Erebus from climbing further towards the top.

Before cars rolled out at Bathurst back in February, many pundits thought Erebus would slide down the pecking order with a new driver, engineer and sponsor line-up.

However, Erebus’ drivers Will Brown and Kostecki defeated all the odds to both finish inside the top 10 on the championship standings.

Michelson said it had been a wild ride from being discarded to standing on the prestigious podium at the Repco Bathurst 1000.

“It is a real credit to everyone, who worked so hard in the offseason,” he said.

“We were written off by everyone going into the season with a new line-up effectively.

“But we knew what we were capable of and kept pushing hard to get something out of it.

“It was a big gamble at the time, but we were all confident in what we could achieve.”

Michelson admitted he has felt some more pressure on his shoulders this year and even found himself enjoying an unexpected rise.

“Workload has increased still being an apprentice,” he said.

“But during the mid-year my number two mechanic got injured and I had to step up into his role which was an awesome experience.

“I just tried to relish it and take everything on board.”

Part of the “big jump’ to filling in as a number two mechanic meant Michelson had to stay in the workshop and hardly leave the car working full time, while being more involved at the track and in the garage.

It only took two rounds for Michelson to get a trophy in his hands when Kostecki stunned in the Sandown rain to snag an impressive result during a weekend better remembered for Shane van Gisbergen’s superb win with a broken collarbone.

It was Michelson’s first podium as a hands-on mechanic to the car and described Kostecki’s drive as a “big moment” for the team.

After consistently competing in an around the first half of the season, border restrictions put the season hold for more than 100 days.

When racing finally returned at Sydney, Erebus produced some rocket ships and Michelson said a back-breaking attitude at the workshop through the winter was the secret.

“SMP was really good to us,” he said.

“With four months gap between racing and in the three months when COVID did not shut us down we were going full hammer.

“We tried some new things in car development and it all clicked.

“We rolled out of the truck very quick and just kept carrying on from there.”

The standalone highlight of the year arrived in the 28th race of the year when rookie racer Brown found himself leading the race after utilising an early pit stop.

Despite leading one of the most competitive touring car fields in the world, Brown still had to navigate 20 laps on his set of tyres and more importantly had to fend off two of the best current drivers in Australia.

The most decorated driver in Supercars history Jamie Whincup and the man who dominated the 2021 season van Gisbergen were breathing down Brown’s neck.

But as the Red Bulls dueled an in-house fight, Brown kept his nerve to become the first Supercars rookie to win in his debut full-time season since 2013.

It was also Michelson’s first taste of the top step and he still cannot get enough of it.

“I had a shaky leg over the last 20 laps because it was the most nervous I had ever been,” he said.

“None of us had any fingernails left and when we went through the last few corners, it was pretty special to realise ‘we’re on here’ and run out to celebrate.

“There was a lot of relief through all the energy that went into it, so it will be something I will cherish for a long time.”

The young Mount Gambier man was lined up to be the driver-change assistant at the great race before being replaced at the last minute by a team member with 15 more years of experience.

However, Michelson still played a critical role making sure the correct amount of fuel went into the car down to the millimetre.

On Bathurst Day Erebus stepped up again with Kostecki – bouncing back from a qualifying disqualification – showed maturity in the pressure cooker of the mountain to rise seven spots and score an “awesome” podium

Despite enduring through an exhausting finish to the season which encapsulated five rounds in six weeks including the Bathurst 1000, Michaelson said he never grew tired of “living the dream” and could not wait for next year.

“I never get sick of motorsport,” he said.

“If I could race every weekend I would, but it was nice to get a bit of a break after a full on month of back to back racing at Sydney before a pretty tight turnaround the Bathurst.

“Trying to get to the number two position is my goal and where I am aiming next year.”