Percat: We can be the future stars!

The young guns are starting to make a habit of finishing ahead of the more experienced hands, with Scott McLaughlin winning his first 200km race at the last event in Sydney, Nick Percat recording his best solo finish of second and Chaz Mostert bagging his seventh podium finish for the season.

Now with the Pirtek Enduro Cup beginning next week, adding the challenges of sharing with co-drivers and making it through the long distance races, they will need to ensure they are in the hunt in the closing laps. As they were at the last event at Sydney Motorsport Park, where Valvoline GRM Volvo driver McLaughlin took the victory by just 0.3 seconds, battling with Percat's HHA Commodore and just hanging on through the last corner.

"Another corner, it was that close I think Nick would've got me!" McLaughlin said post-race.

"I had nothing left at the end, Nick drove an awesome race and it was cool battling with him the whole race it was just like DVS days it was fun."

The three drivers, along with Scott Pye, starred in a stellar season of the Dunlop Series in 2012, showing the category really is a breeding ground for future V8 Supercars stars.

Now, Percat has declared they can be the headlinersof V8 Supercars in the future, and challenge for the Championship the way the last wave of newcomers - including Jamie Whincup, Mark Winterbottom and Will Davison in the 2000s - are battling now.

"We're all pushing in the right direction and hopefully we can be the faces of this category in the next 10 or 15 years, then we can have the young guys in DVS to knock all of us off. That'd be the ideal situation," Percat told v8supercars.com.au.

"It's awesome Scotty's had the results he's had and Chaz has done a really good job to be a factory driver taking it to Frosty, it's awesome to see and that's the same thing I want to do.

"Last year, there was probably a lot more development happening (of the new gen cars), teams were up and down a bit more, and probably gave more opportunity for a lot of different winners.

"This year everyone is so close - for those guys to still be getting wins is awesome. It just shows they didn't fluke it last year.

"It's not because the new car came out, they've genuinely got pace and for me to be racing McLaughlin bumper to bumper ... was quite good. I've had the same with Chaz through the year and Scotty Pye, so we're all pushing in the right direction."

While he is technically classified as a rookie, contesting his first solo year in the sport, Percat has a Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 win under his belt, when running as a co-driver with Garth Tander in 2011 with the Holden Racing Team.

And though it has taken Percat time to break into the Championship - with his three Dunlop Series competitors debuting last year - he has always said he was waiting for the right opportunity, which has come with James Rosenberg taking his REC to Walkinshaw Racing. While Percat has security in a two-year deal, the 25-year old wants to ensure he remains in the Championship from here.

"I don't want to disappear at the end of next year - I want to do more than one term of the contract!" he said.

"I've always thought I could do it, this year for me is kind of proving it.

"Clipsal I didn't get the result but came out straight away and were quick on that Sunday race. (There are) a lot of things that say to me, I deserve to be here. Actions speak louder than words and the last few rounds ... have been quite good for me so all in a good, solid direction."

Dropping as low as last position in the Championship, an upturn in form has seen him climb 10 positions to 15th.

Percat will pair with international co-driver Oliver Gavin across the next three events in the HHA co-driver, and after a two day test, team boss Adrian Burgess was happy with Gavin's progress.

"Oliver did a bloody good solid job," Burgess told v8supercars.com.au. "We did some really good long runs with him.

"He gets on well with Nick and his crew, so it was very productive."