NICK OFF!

Another potential candidate to fill Jamie Whincup’s prized seat at Triple Eight Race Engineering is out of contention.

Nick Percat has revealed he made contact with the owners of the championship heavyweight team to press his claims, but was rebuffed.

“I definitely put the feelers out, you’d be silly not to,” Percat told Auto Action.

Percat remains part of the wider Supercars driver market speculation, as a return to Brad Jones Racing in 2022 is yet to be confirmed.

Other teams he has been mentioned in connection with include Walkinshaw Andretti United, where second-year driver Bryce Fullwood is highly regarded but needs to improve his results.

Percat had been a constant on speculative lists of who might be in the frame to replace seven-time Supercars champion and four-times Bathurst 1000 winner Whincup, who retires from full-time Supercars racing at the end of 2021 to step into Roland Dane’s role as team principal.

But reality has intervened in that theory.

“It is flattering to see fans commenting about Jamie retiring and me replacing him,” Percat said.

“I would be lying if I said I hadn’t reached out and put the feelers out to see what they were up to.

“But Roland and the whole team there – I guess they have a whole board of people there now – play their cards pretty close to their chest.

“At the moment I am loyal to Brad [Jones Racing], but I put the feelers out to see if there was an opportunity there.”

“I’m sure there isn’t otherwise I would have heard more by now.”

Percat spoke more extensively about the conversations with Triple Eight Race Engineering in the latest edition of Auto Action, while seven-time champion and future team principal of the team Jamie Whincup spoke more on its list of drivers which includes Percat.

Both men speak to AA in the latest edition on sale now.

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