Back in the car

Nick Percat will take part in this weekend’s SpeedFest in Perth after recovering from a blood infection.

Percat told v8supercars.com.au he is at 90 per cent health after being unable to race the last two events.

This afternoon he flies to Perth to take part in the SpeedFest event – and while he is not competing, he will be part of a special demonstration in the heart of the city on Saturday with drawcard WA F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo.

LDM adds a West Aussie into its fold next year, planning to run Alex Rullo in a Dunlop Series program, with Percat to mentor and guide the now 15-year old.

“It’ll be good – Lucas saw a bit of an opportunity to do a similar thing to what Garth had with me,” Percat said, referring to his experience with HRT’s Garth Tander, who he won Bathurst with in 2011.

“It doesn’t mean he’s going to rock up and do enduros with me or anything like that – it’s just to give him a bit of help, a bit of feedback, try and get him up to speed in a Supercar as soon as possible.

“I watched him in the Kumho Series and gave him a few bits of advice during the year and … he responded and took that on-board quickly, so that made me more interested because he actually does want to listen … he’s a good kid and he’s worked with LDM most of the year at the rounds [doing general duties], so it’s an easy fit.

“It will be good to help him along and give him some good feedback on what he’s been up to.”

It has been an unusual month for Percat, who has not steered his V8 Supercar since the New Zealand event in early November.

Jack Perkins stepped into the Repair Management Australia Racing Commodore last weekend in Sydney, with team boss Lucas Dumbrell’s brother Paul Dumbrell taking the wheel at the very last minute in Phillip Island.

While 27-year old Percat was at the Coates Hire Sydney 500, he admitted he wasn’t feeling brilliant, and will be taking it easy heading into Christmas.

After the short demo this weekend, his next drive will be a test for his recently announced Bathurst 12-Hour drive in February in an LDM run Lamborghini.

“I’m getting better, probably 90 per cent now, I guess,” he told v8supercars.com.au. 

“I still haven’t been training or anything yet – seeing as I have a bit of time up my sleeve I may as well have an extra week or so to make sure the body is ready to accept getting back into it.”

While Percat had been set to drive at Phillip Island, after steering in practice on Friday, he had to pull out at the last minute Saturday morning.

He explained just how serious it could have been.

“It was a bit average in the first week, if I didn’t respond the correct way it could’ve turned out to be a bad situation – a fatal situation – so it had to be addressed quite seriously,” he said.  

“I had mum come over [from Adelaide] and hang out because there was a point that if I didn’t respond to the antibiotic it could’ve got really serious.

“Thankfully it did – it was quite slow on it, but it did start responding and I was out of the ‘danger zone’ I guess you’d call it.

“There was definitely a good three, four, five days there where if it went the wrong way I could still be in hospital today. And in a much worse state than I was.”

He thanked V8 Supercars medical delegate Dr Carl Le and was treated by a number of specialists working to pinpoint the infection. Now he believes he’s on the mend. 

“I’m 90 per cent sure I’m fine to start building it up now but I don’t want to do anything too soon that means I’m back in hospital, or putting myself in in a few weeks. So as hard as it is to not do anything for another week it’s best thing to do so, to be honest I didn’t know how my body will react.”

It has been an unusual year in V8 Supercars with a number of drivers suffering shock injuries. James Courtney was subject to broken ribs and a punctured lung when hit by debris dislodged by a low-flying helicopter at Sydney Motorsport Park, while Chaz Mostert had a huge crash at Bathurst resulting in a broken leg and wrist.

“It sounds weird to say and very wrong, but I would’ve preferred to have a had a broken leg, arm, or ribs like JC or Chaz because at least you can watch it mend and have a bit of progress,” Percat admitted.  

“Whereas any infection trying to attack your blood, it’s hard to get an idea of what’s going on.

"Obviously I look fine and at times felt fine but it wasn’t. I think I’ll be alright when I go back to training but just have to give it a bit of respect.”

In 2013, Percat stepped into Courtney’s Holden Racing Team Commodore at the Sydney 500, after Courtney broke his leg in an accident at Phillip Island. This time Percat required his own sub.

“It was a little bit weird … it was definitely the right decision though,” he said when asked what it was like to watch others driving his race car.

“But I’d only been off the antibiotic about a day before I flew in to Sydney so, to be honest, I was feeling pretty average.

“I didn’t stay the whole day on Friday because I felt really crap, so I knew I was nowhere near ready to sit in the car and drive it.”