HRT confirms endurance driver pairings

The Holden Racing Team has announced their driver pairings for the upcoming endurance events at Sandown, Bathurst and Surfers Paradise later in the year. The confirmation comes with just under two months until proceedings kick off at Sandown in the opening leg of the inaugural endurance cup.

Garth Tander will reunite with Carrera cup regular, Nick Percat, in the #2 Holden Racing Team Commodore. The combination tasted the ultimate success at Mount Panorama in 2011, and will look to rekindle their unshakable aura after a difficult outing last year. Meanwhile, James Courtney will share his #22 HRT VF Commodore with semi-retired V8 Supercar veteran and Bathurst specialist, Greg Murphy.

In what has been a challenging season for the Melbourne-based team, Tander and Courtney are both outside the top 5 in the championship. However, the factory Holden outfit was invigorated by a one-two finish at last weekend’s Sucrogen 400 in Townsville, and will look to carry their momentum into the crucial endurance events in the coming months.

Percat fell out of favour with HRT after crashing the #2 Commodore at “the dipper” in last year’s edition of the Bathurst 1000, however, in light of today’s announcement, he will once again team up with Tander for the third consecutive year. Percat had signed to contest the endurance cup alongside Tony D’Alberto, and even spent time behind the wheel of the Team Hiflex Commodore in practise for the Townsville 400 less than a fortnight ago.

Percat voiced his desire to move forward from the mistake that jeopardised the team’s assault on Mount Panorama last year.
“Last year was a learning experience. There was just as much attention for making a mistake than what there was for winning the year before. I’ve learnt a lot from that so I can’t wait to get back to the mountain and fix what happened – we’re going to put our best foot forward to make sure car #2 is on the top step at the end of the day.”

Garth Tander added his pleasure in once again teaming up with the 24 year-old, and is confident that he will bounce back from last year’s difficulties.
“It’s fantastic to have Nick back; we’ve shared the car the past two years, obviously with a lot of success in 2011,” Tander said. “We don’t have to change anything in the car, we know each other’s likes and dislikes, so it’s just a matter of going to the enduros and doing our best.”
“Nick made a mistake last year, but you learn from those”. “I’ve made mistakes there myself, we all do, but it’s what you learn from those moments that moulds you. I know Nick won’t make the same mistake twice.”

With Percat making a late switch to the factory Holden squad, Tony D’Alberto is now searching for another co-driver to compliment his run of impressive form in recent rounds.
“Besides the obvious height difference between us, Nick was a great fit for us and he would have been a great co-driver, but we understand Walkinshaw Racing’s need for the switch, so we are now focusing on securing a new driver that can help us achieve the results that we want,” said D’Alberto.

The other Holden Racing Team Commodore is shaping up to be equally competitive, with the fast and experienced combination of James Courtney and Greg Murphy likely to generate some anxiety among their rivals. A Bathurst specialist, Murphy is undoubtedly the man to help break Courtney’s hoodoo at Mount Panorama, where the 2010 V8 Supercar champion has yet to taste the ultimate success.

Murphy is a four time winner of Australia’s great race, and was also responsible for the “Lap of the gods”, where he broke the lap record in his Kmart sponsored Commodore in the 2003 Bathurst 1000 top-ten shootout.
Courtney is convinced that his Kiwi partner will bring him closer to an outright win at the famed event.
“I’ve been to Bathurst with champions like Jim Richards, Glenn Seton and Cam McConville, and now I get my best chance to date with Murph; he really lifts to another level at the mountain,” Courtney said.
“I’m the only one of HRT’s four drivers that hasn’t won Bathurst yet. I’ve been close a few times but haven’t stood on the top step, so it would be great to do it this year with Murph”.
“I said I would get the car into the Top 10 Shootout in qualifying and then hand it over to Murph to do another ‘Lap of the Gods’ – it would set the scene for a great race.”

Murphy added “Winning Bathurst is the epitome of what we’re all here for. Things have changed in the championship but Bathurst has retained its place as the absolute pinnacle of racing in Australia. Our pairings couldn’t be any better. Garth and Nick have already had great success at Bathurst and they go together well. It’s the same with James and myself”.

A co-driver for Russell Ingall’s Walkinshaw Racing Commodore has yet to be announced.

The inaugural endurance cup gets underway at Sandown in just under two months, while the Bathurst 1000 and the Gold Coast 600 will take place the following month in October. Restrictions on the eligibility of endurance pilots have been somewhat eased this year, with co-drivers now permitted to compete in all three legs of the endurance cup.