Move to join Chaz a rev up for Percat
NICK Percat is targeting a move up the Supercars grid when he teams with Chaz Mostert at Walkinshaw Andretti United next year in a return to the squad where he won a Bathurst 1000 crown on debut.
As he celebrates the 10th anniversary of his Mount Panorama victory with Garth Tander as a 23-year-old for the then Holden Racing Team – now Walkinshaw Andretti United (WAU) – Percat will make a homecoming to the squad he first raced for in Supercars on a multi-year deal.
In a Supercars seat swap, Percat takes the place of
Bryce Fullwood at WAU after spending the past five years at Brad Jones Racing. Fullwood has joined BJR for 2022.
The 33-year-old will drive the No. 2 Commodore from next year with Mostert as his teammate in a switch he hopes will help elevate him up the Supercars standings.
“I’ve been watching what the WAU guys have been up to the last couple of years, especially now that Chaz is there,” Percat said.
“I guess I could see the way that it is trending and I wanted to get involved.
“I am trying to put myself in the best position to win races and championships and I thought that going to WAU was the place to do it.
“It would be awesome to be able to fight for championships and race wins with the team that got me through the junior categories and into the series.”
Percat became a Bathurst 1000 champion in 2011 as a co-driver alongside Tander for WAU – formerly HRT – in his first attempt at the Great Race.
He last raced for Walkinshaw Racing in 2014 when he made his debut in the main game as a full-time driver but has a relationship with the team dating back to 2007 as a junior.
“The Walkinshaw family helped me get through Australian Formula Ford, Super 2, Porsche Carrera Cup and
then into the main series,” Percat said. “So there is a lot of history with the team which is pretty special.”
Percat said he was “pumped” to be teaming up with Mostert, who he predicted would help spur on his results. “To team up with Chaz and try and get good results with him, that was a big drawcard for me as well,” Percat said. “I want a teammate who is known to be at the front winning races.
“We’ve known each other for a long time and raced each other really hard from back when we were in our early 20s through to now so it’s very cool to be teaming up with him.
“I think we are just diehard
racers and want to go well so it will be a good relationship.”
Percat sits eighth in the Supercars standings this year as the series prepares to make its long-awaited return to the track at Sydney Motorsport Park this week. He finished a career-high seventh in the championship last year.
Percat is now focused on a strong finish with BJR this season.
“Hopefully we can finish up on a high at Sydney Motorsport Park where we won last year,” he said.
“It would be awesome to have a good strong result at Bathurst with the team.
“I just really want to leave there with a good solid result there.”