Percat lands fulltime V8s drive

He’s already a Bathurst winner, now young gun Nick Percat has achieved the lifelong dream of securing a full-time V8 Supercars drive.

Percat, who won the 2011 Mount Panorama crown as Garth Tander’s co-driver for the Holden Racing Team (HRT), will go behind the wheel of a fourth Holden entry in the Walkinshaw Racing stable for 2014.

The new entry was revealed on Friday, with James Rosenberg bringing his racing entitlement contract into the garage of the team which already runs the two HRT cars and the Supercheap Auto Racing-backed Commodore.

Percat has raced the past three endurance campaigns alongside Tander and says finally becoming a full-time driver in the main game is exciting.

“To know that I will finally be on the V8 Supercars main series grid next year is a dream come true, something I’ve been working towards since I was five years old,” Percat said.

“I can’t thank James Rosenberg enough for giving me the chance, and all the people at Walkinshaw Racing (WR) for having faith in me.

“The opportunity also couldn’t come at a better time as the trend at WR is encouraging – the cars are showing great speed, and some very talented, experienced and successful new staff are coming on board next year, who will only add strength to the organisation.”

Rosenberg’s switch also keeps him in the same stable as Tim Slade, the driver he’s backed for the past five years who will be piloting the Supercheap Commodore from next season.

He’s hopeful of delivering similar career support to 25-year-old Percat.

“There’s a lot of personal satisfaction in helping young drivers,” Rosenberg said.

“Being part of Tim’s career has given me great pleasure and I look forward to more of the same with a talented driver in Nick Percat.”

The news completes a big week for Percat, who was named on Monday as the replacement for former championship-winning driver James Courtney in next month’s season-ending Sydney 500 after Courtney was ruled out with a broken tibia following a shocking crash at last weekend’s Phillip Island round.

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