The GM squad has found itself somewhat unexpectedly in the Supercars driver market, becoming collateral damage, of sorts, of Shane van Gisbergen's NASCAR switch.
That prompted Triple Eight to pry Will Brown out of his Erebus contract for 2024, Erebus responding by pouncing on an out-of-contract Le Brocq.
MSR, which had been working on a new deal with two-time race winner Le Brocq, now has a seat to fill amid a rapidly evolving market.
The good news for MSR is that, with the field set to shrink by one car next season, and the likes of Ryan Wood, Aaron Love and Richie Stanaway poised to join from the sidelines, there are race winners still looking for a home.
At the top of the list are James Courtney, who is set to leave Tickford amid its scaling back, Scott Pye, who will be replaced by David Reynolds at Team 18, and Nick Percat, who will part ways with Walkinshaw Andretti United.
While Courtney has also been heavily linked to Blanchard Racing Team, all three would fit MSR owner Matt Stone's desire to bring in a proven driver.
“Two weeks ago we weren’t in this position and we thought we were happily sitting on the sidelines while the silly season unfolded, but that’s not the case," he told Motorsport.com.
"We’re sort of getting in the game a little late. But at the same time there’s a lot of interest out there and a lot of really good people that we’re talking to.
"We’re very happy with what we were doing with Jack and wanting to roll that forward, so from our point of view there’s no question as to what sort of driver we’re looking for. We want someone who is proven and also proven in Gen3, someone who can pick up right where Jack leaves off, keep us punching up the front end of the field and hunting for those race wins and podiums.
"That’s the calibre of what we’re looking for, and pretty confident that we should be able to sort something out fairly soon."
The new drivers will almost certainly be paired with current MSR rookie Cameron Hill, who has impressed enough to set up a sophomore season.
"We're have been very open that we're happy with Cam," added Stone.
"We see a lot of promise in him, we're not interested in anyone else for that seat. It's just working through the details, but from his side and ours, 100 per cent we want to keep the momentum going.
"We've seen some great promise in him. We've also seen a bit of bad luck, he's had some unfortunate incidents on-track and we've had a couple teething issues with new equipment in the pitlane that have fouled his car once or twice this year.
"So the points situation doesn't reflect the true potential there. But in a rookie year you shouldn't be looking at your points anyway, you should be focusing on each day. There's a lot of potential there and we look forward to continuing to unlock it with him."
