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Transcript

The Motorsport Brief - Nick Percat · Rusty's Garage

• 0:02
  A listener production.
• 0:04
  The break is over.
• 0:05
  The wait is over.
• 0:06
  The 2025 Supercars Championship kicks off this weekend.
• 0:10
  Today, a preview with a Bathurst winner who's right in the thick of it.
• 0:15
  G'day, it's Rusty here.
• 0:16
  Welcome to the Garage Shortcast, our motorsport brief.
• 0:19
  Matt Stone Racing's Nick Perkatt, who drives the number 10, Bendix Brakes Camaro, is standing by at Sydney Motorsport Park.
• 0:26
  Just before we look ahead to the weekend, racing under lights, and the year ahead generally, a reminder about a couple of recent pods in our library.
• 0:35
  The former voice of the world's superbikes, Jonathan Green, came on for a two-parter.
• 0:40
  His impersonation, Valentino Rossi, is very good.
• 0:44
  Plus, he spent a decade as the play-by-play caller of more than a decade, in fact, of New Zealand's Toyota Racing Series and the famous New Zealand Grand Prix.
• 0:53
  And why his dog goes behind the television to look for him.
• 0:57
  And the Kiwis listening will enjoy a debrief on GP Weekend.
• 1:01
  There's all sorts of good stuff in there, including Will Brown, Brock Feeney, former McLaren engineer Steve Giles, and some bright young stars who are racing in Europe this season that might be worth keeping a little eye on.
• 1:13
  In 2024, Nick Perkat moved to Matt Stone Racing.
• 1:16
  Wins at the Grand Prix and in Tasmania were just the tonic he needed.
• 1:21
  Eight in the championship could arguably have been even better.
• 1:25
  Testing ahead of this weekend's first round looked really encouraging too.
• 1:29
  He is on the line.
• 1:30
  Hello, mate.
• 1:30
  Thank you for coming on the pod.
• 1:32
  Thank you for having me.
• 1:34
  Hey, the first part of testing, by the looks of it, on Wednesday went really well for you.
• 1:37
  How was the whole day on balance after you had a chance to look back at it on Wednesday night?
• 1:43
  Yeah, it wasn't too bad.
• 1:45
  Obviously the morning we rolled out quite well.
• 1:47
  Both cars were really competitive and we had a little play on the 2025 tyre just before lunch, just to get a bit of a read.
• 1:55
  It was quite positive and I think we're in good stead.
• 1:59
  I'm not sure we're the fastest and we've got a little bit of work to do still to tune the car up.
• 2:05
  We've done a whole of four, five laps on the new tyre.
• 2:09
  So yeah,
• 2:11
  Yeah, Friday is going to be interesting.
• 2:12
  Obviously, we roll into a practice, straight to quality and a race.
• 2:15
  So that's where we run.
• 2:17
  You'll reflect Friday night where your car is actually at.
• 2:20
  Are you confident you can add, as I said in the introduction there, to some of those wins that you enjoyed last season?
• 2:24
  I'm hoping so.
• 2:25
  Yeah, I think so.
• 2:26
  Matt's done a good job over the off-season.
• 2:28
  We've got some really good staff, some new guys.
• 2:32
  Nothing's changed on the car 10 side, which is really good.
• 2:34
  And
• 2:35
  I think, yeah, we're in a stronger position as a whole team than we were this time last year.
• 2:39
  So if it all bodes well and hopefully we can have a similar year with a couple of wins and a few more, you know, just solid results without the dips would really make for a good year.
• 2:52
  Now, Will Brown ended up quickest at the end of the day, but you get a bit of a sense of...
• 2:58
  everyone's form, I think, in some regards, don't you?
• 3:01
  I mean, some of it, I guess, might be masked by the fact that I think you did a quali sim in the morning and focused more on race runs in the afternoon and so on.
• 3:09
  Who else kind of surprised you as far as rivals are concerned?
• 3:13
  The usual suspects are fast, always.
• 3:15
  I think Chas was really quick.
• 3:18
  His race run looked pretty handy.
• 3:19
  So, yeah, we expect him to be fast here.
• 3:22
  You know, last year he won here with some big margins.
• 3:25
  So...
• 3:26
  I think himself and Ryan Wood are probably in for a pretty good shot to start the year.
• 3:31
  But then, yeah, it's always hard to go past, say, the triple eight guys.
• 3:33
  And I think Brodie kept his cards pretty close to his chest yesterday.
• 3:37
  So I expect him to come out and get on with it come Friday, Saturday.
• 3:41
  So, yeah, I think it'd be the usual suspects.
• 3:44
  But, you know, I think Kyle Allen actually did a pretty good job in a bit of a race run that we've seen there.
• 3:48
  So the rookies will come out swinging as well, no doubt.
• 3:51
  Yeah.
• 3:51
  Okay, cool.
• 3:52
  Matt Stone Racing, MSR and its program continues to expand.
• 3:56
  You alluded to that a moment ago, right?
• 3:58
  So just talk a bit more about that.
• 3:59
  You've been in multi-car teams before, no real change around your car, but what about more broadly with the team and do you lend a bit of expertise having been a part of something like that before?
• 4:11
  Yeah, so obviously myself and Cam Hill still in the two main cars.
• 4:16
  And then we got Cameron Crick in the wildcard for a few events this year.
• 4:19
  And yeah, he did the Enduros last year and did a really good job.
• 4:22
  And yeah, he's managed to convince Matt to get another car on track and get some main game experience and races under his belt, you know, individually by himself.
• 4:31
  So he's in my car from last year, which...
• 4:33
  we won with.
• 4:35
  He's got a really good crew around him.
• 4:36
  So yeah, I think yesterday was probably an eye-opener for him.
• 4:39
  Being co-driver compared to the main guy, the level was it's probably a second a lot faster.
• 4:46
  Set up your own car.
• 4:47
  There's a lot more that goes into it.
• 4:48
  So I think yesterday was a really good shake out for him.
• 4:52
  He's got a good day to process that and come back Friday and improve on where he was at.
• 4:57
  Yeah, it is very cool to see where we send to three and we're doing it properly.
• 5:02
  It's not like we've got a
• 5:04
  ringing crew down there though that's a really good solid crew down in his garage running the car so it's pretty exciting nick when i first started out i got to work with his late dad who was a truck racing legend you've seen him for a few months now right like how he seems like he's he's really coming along he's worked very hard to get to this point hasn't he yeah 100 he's uh he's a great guy everyone loves him here at the team he's um
• 5:27
  Been around all last year with us.
• 5:29
  And yeah, every time he's jumped in the car, he does a really, really good job.
• 5:32
  I remember testing at Ipswich and then obviously at Sandown and Bathurst, he was solid there in the top 10.
• 5:36
  So yeah, he admits to himself, he likes to process it all, take it all in and try not to make any silly mistakes and just keep building.
• 5:44
  So I imagine honestly by Sunday, he'll be quite fast.
• 5:48
  So yeah, he might...
• 5:50
  Take a little bit of time on Friday, just not doing silly.
• 5:52
  And then I think once he gets a couple, Friday, Saturday, under his belt, I think Sunday, probably gloves off and get amongst it.
• 5:59
  Slide dog per dog.
• 6:00
  That sounds like a bad album cover, doesn't it?
• 6:02
  So tell us about the fact that you get to pair with him for the Enduros and how significant do you reckon that's going to be, you know, at the back end of this season?
• 6:12
  Oh, 100%.
• 6:12
  It's great to have him on board.
• 6:13
  Obviously...
• 6:15
  He's an amazing, I had an amazing career as a main driver.
• 6:18
  He's super fast, fit and hungry.
• 6:21
  So that's a great fit, to be honest.
• 6:23
  You know, we joked about driving together back when we were at BJR together.
• 6:26
  We need to bring back the two main drivers and stuff like that.
• 6:30
  So he did a good job yesterday.
• 6:32
  He did heaps of laps.
• 6:34
  His feedback was spot on.
• 6:35
  So anytime that I wasn't sure on something in the car.
• 6:39
  I would just say, hey, just chuck Slade in.
• 6:41
  We'll see what he thinks of the change and make sure that, you know, kind of validating what I was feeling.
• 6:46
  So, yeah, very excited to have him.
• 6:48
  He's an asset to myself, but the whole of MSR, he's been at big teams for a long time, done this for a long time.
• 6:55
  So to have myself and him in the team is very cool.
• 6:59
  Brendan Leach has been pretty impressive in GT cars, both locally and globally.
• 7:04
  He spent some time with you guys yesterday, but it's a very different car.
• 7:08
  He's ticked a pretty significant career box in getting that chance on Wednesday.
• 7:12
  How'd it go?
• 7:12
  What were your impressions?
• 7:14
  Yeah, he went well.
• 7:14
  You know, it's hard on a test day, especially at Sydney Motor Park where tyre dig is absolutely huge.
• 7:20
  So you could give him a set of tyres that he's going to do a minute 30 or you can give him a set of tyres that he's going to do a 34.
• 7:25
  So it's hard to look into, but you can tell he's the ultimate professional.
• 7:29
  He's rocked up.
• 7:30
  He's...
• 7:31
  He knew exactly where he needed to put the car straight away, how to drive it.
• 7:36
  And to be honest, he actually did a pretty good job in a little bit of a longer run he did.
• 7:40
  And he was very, very competitive in the lap times he did.
• 7:44
  And this morning I spent a bit of time with him, debrief.
• 7:47
  And yeah, you can tell he's a very good steerer.
• 7:51
  And the way he thinks about it is very good.
• 7:52
  So yeah.
• 7:53
  Yes, I'm not sure what the plan is with him, if he ends up with us or not.
• 8:00
  He's a pretty cool guy to get to know.
• 8:01
  And, yeah, we're comparing myself, him and Jimmy Stone with just talking 2G3 car versus supercar just before while we're having some lunch.
• 8:08
  So it's pretty cool to have those stories getting around.
• 8:12
  We'll get you to hang on there just for a moment.
• 8:14
  A quick break.
• 8:14
  More with Nick Perkat in just a few moments.
• 8:22
  This is the Motorsport Brief chatting with Matt Stone Racing's Nick Perkat on the eve of the Supercars season opener at Sydney Motorsport Park.
• 8:30
  Let's get back to the convo now.
• 8:33
  You talked at the top of the pod here about the 2025 tyre and the change there.
• 8:36
  The other big significant or the other major thing, I should say, is around the format for the year and a playoff style back end of the season, a NASCAR style back end.
• 8:47
  Have you guys talked much about that at MSR, how you might approach that?
• 8:50
  I know in some media outlets today, people have questioned whether there'll be a conservative approach from some to maybe buy a ticket to that.
• 8:57
  What do you think is the best way to tackle this, to go about it?
• 9:01
  For me, it's just don't overthink it.
• 9:03
  Every week you need to be trying to get trophies and I don't know why it would change your outlook on how you go about it.
• 9:11
  There might be times where you might have to
• 9:16
  take a lot of risk to get a pass done to make sure you get through.
• 9:18
  But I think if you're just doing a good job week in, week out, qualifying well, racing at the front, it kind of takes care of itself who ends up in that final four at Adelaide to battle for the championship.
• 9:29
  So from my side, you just continue doing what you're doing.
• 9:33
  You're trying to win every single race.
• 9:35
  You're trying to be on pole position every time.
• 9:36
  So...
• 9:37
  It'll be the usual suspects.
• 9:39
  It'll be...
• 9:40
  But I'm looking forward to say, you know, last year if we end up in a position where it was Brown, Feeney, Waters, Chas come that Sunday.
• 9:48
  That would be crazy.
• 9:50
  Imagine the story when Chas is getting put in the fence and Brown comes from last to win it.
• 9:54
  Like, that would be...
• 9:56
  Pretty big if that was the playoffs.
• 9:57
  Most definitely.
• 9:58
  When you look at the season opener here at Sydney Motorsport Park, Underlight, some of the things they've done over the years for fans and so on, do you enjoy that?
• 10:06
  And is there a different approach around some of the night racing and so on?
• 10:09
  I love the night racing and I love the spectacle that we put on at SMP.
• 10:15
  We do cool driver intros in the past.
• 10:18
  We try and really engage with the fans and all that side of the thing.
• 10:21
  But then I think this track promotes very good racing because there is a lot of tired eggs.
• 10:26
  So you see a lot of door-to-door action.
• 10:28
  big strategy swings.
• 10:29
  Sometimes, you know, you think your favorite driver's bloody 30 seconds behind and he's out of the race.
• 10:34
  And then 10 laps later, he's battling for a win.
• 10:36
  So it's one of those tracks where anything can happen.
• 10:38
  So, um, I think to be honest, as a test track, probably not my favorite because it is so hard on tires.
• 10:44
  Um, so you don't get much running, but as a race track, it's very good.
• 10:48
  Now, can we talk a little bit of karting?
• 10:50
  Because when you're heavily involved in this, but you and I got to catch up at the National Awards last September, I think it was, which was a great night.
• 10:59
  This is a big project that you've embarked on in recent years.
• 11:02
  Tell me about the 2025 season, how big it is, and what you're up to there.
• 11:06
  Well, yeah, we relocated the team to Queensland.
• 11:09
  We changed brands of go-karts.
• 11:11
  We've got a majority of the same drivers and then a few new faces.
• 11:16
  So it's, yeah, it's all guns blazing.
• 11:19
  I've got an employee at J&D with Jay.
• 11:21
  He's running the kart team when I can't be there.
• 11:24
  So, you know, last weekend when I was in Sydney driving across the bridge, he was at Coffs Harbour with the team racing there.
• 11:30
  This weekend, they're in Newcastle racing.
• 11:33
  Next weekend, we're at Ipswich racing.
• 11:35
  And the following weekend, we're in Melbourne racing.
• 11:37
  So the J&D thing's going really well.
• 11:40
  It's really cool to see the kids going well and having fun.
• 11:43
  And I think one of our drivers, Maddie, she's coming out to SMP this weekend to hang out.
• 11:48
  So it is good.
• 11:49
  And it's nice to have someone helping.
• 11:52
  Now we can do a bit more racing and give the kids more opportunity to do some more racing during the year rather than when I'm available.
• 11:58
  So...
• 11:59
  Yeah, it's all good.
• 12:00
  Excellent.
• 12:00
  Are you seeing some real talent there that might maybe one day follow in your footsteps to supercars or maybe follow an Oscar Piastri and maybe make it to Formula One?
• 12:09
  Are our stocks in those junior sort of levels, are they pretty good?
• 12:13
  Yeah, I think so, 100%.
• 12:15
  And my ultimate dream is to have someone come through J&D into cars and then replace me at MSR would be the absolute wildest thing we could imagine.
• 12:25
  So it's the goal to find the next person who's good enough to do it.
• 12:29
  So, yeah, I think we've got a really good...
• 12:32
  group of drivers at J&D, but I'm biased.
• 12:35
  We'll see how they go over the next few years.
• 12:36
  I know personally, it's not how much you're winning a go-kart because it's what happens when you get into the next stages and putting yourself at the right teams in the car racing world and getting around the right people.
• 12:47
  So yeah, I'm hopeful that we'll have someone come through and end up in a supercar.
• 12:51
  Awesome.
• 12:52
  Can we finish this with a little thought on your own career?
• 12:54
  It seems like yesterday, mate, that you were at Bathurst with Garth Tander and you've chalked up plenty of races and, you know, 15 plus years in the paddock there now.
• 13:04
  What sort of things, whether it's in supercars or beyond, are still to be ticked from a Nick Perkatt point of view?
• 13:10
  Championships, clearly.
• 13:11
  Oh, yeah, the championship's the one that you always want to get.
• 13:14
  But, oh, look, just to think it's been this long is incredible the amount of drivers who are very, very good.
• 13:23
  But, yeah, I'm pretty proud of what I've done so far.
• 13:25
  And, yeah, I'm loving the MSR journey.
• 13:27
  And if I can keep...
• 13:28
  helping Matt and the team grow and improve.
• 13:31
  And hopefully Cam Hill has a great year and wins races.
• 13:36
  And if I could have a good year and win a couple of races, it would be great to see that the team's heading in the right direction.
• 13:41
  And I think ideally anywhere in the top five of the championship for me would be
• 13:47
  really cool because it is such a cutthroat championship it's not easy to win races anymore it's you know we've all got the same horsepower the same cars the same opportunity but you know you've won the clock back 10 15 years and there was definitely teams with engine advantages or disadvantage where now it's um it's yeah really just up to making sure you maximize your car on that day and if i can get a few more wins along the way it'd be great between the carding program and msr we wish you well for 2025 and look forward to getting you back on the pod at some stage for
• 14:17
  No worries.
• 14:17
  Thank you, mate.
• 14:19
  We are just about out of time on this one.
• 14:21
  I'm chatting with former NASCAR and IndyCar driver Max Pappas in the days ahead and sprint car racer Robbie Farr is coming on for a feature episode too.
• 14:31
  Keep an eye out for those.
• 14:32
  Testing next week for Formula One after that awesome team launch and livery reveal show in London in recent days.
• 14:39
  Won't be long before we're at Albert Park for round one of the season.
• 14:42
  Enjoy the Supercars season opener, everyone.
• 14:46
  Bye for now.