Bendix Racing Supercars Round Wrap-Up - 2024 MSS Security Melbourne SuperSprint

The second stop on the 2024 Supercars Championship brought the field to Victoria for the 2024 MSS Security Melbourne SuperSprint. Sharing the weekend with the 2024 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, the Supercars took to the Albert Grand Prix Circuit for Race 3, 4, 5, and 6 of the 2024 Championship. Nick Percat was behind the wheel of the Bendix Racing Camaro for its second-ever outing, looking to build on his momentum from the first round.

The Supercars kicked the action off with two practice sessions on Thursday morning. Nick Percat would start the weekend strong, driving the 4^th fastest lap in Practice 1 thanks to a 1m47.737s best lap. Percat would later go 14^th fastest in Practice 2 with a 1m48.085s best lap. Qualifying sessions for Race 3 and 4 would follow that afternoon and would see Percat earn a P6 start on the grid for Race 3 and a P16 start for Friday’s Race 4. Race 3 would round out Friday’s on-track action and make for an explosive start to the weekend. The Bendix Racing Camaro would show outstanding pace throughout the race, crossing the finish in P3. However, contact with the #25 Mobil 1 Optus Ford Mustang earlier in the race would cause a 5-second penalty that would see Percat end the race with a P6 result. Nick Percat had the following to say to round out Thursday’s efforts.

Nick Percat: “Qualified well for Race 1 in 6th; the race car in this afternoon’s race was mega fast, so went from 6th to 3rd at the chequered flag. Copped a penalty for some ‘rubbing is racing’ with Chaz, but the positive of it all was that the Bendix car was seriously fast, and I thought if I could of got through on Matt Payne and made it stick we probably could of harassed the Red Bulls. We will try again tomorrow.”

Friday would host Race 4 of the championship and would see Percat display outstanding pace, climbing up the pack from his P14 start on the grid and ultimately finishing the race with a P6 result after 17 hard-fought laps. Percat said the following to round out Friday.

Nick Percat: “It was a good race — I got a really good start and had a good opening lap. I thought once I got that done we definitely had a shot for the podium but I probably needed the race to be a little bit longer. Massive credit to everyone from Bendix Racing, the cars have been fast all weekend. We have a couple more qualifying sessions tomorrow and that will set us up for the last two races. Hopefully we can come home with a trophy and some champagne.”

Saturday would kick away in the morning with Qualifying for Race 5 and 6. Percat would qualify for a P18 start for Saturday’s Race 5 before earning a P4 start on the grid for Sunday’s Race 6. Race 5 would cap off the day and would see Percat continue his streak of top-ten results of the weekend with a P9 finish for the event. Nick Percat had this to say following the race.

Nick Percat: “It was a good race, obviously wanted to fix my stuff up from qualifying. I made a really good start and passed a couple before Turn 1 — from then on I was trying to keep the nose clean and not get caught up in any crashes. I got lucky down at Turn 3 and picked up a few more and also managed to grab probably two just before the safety car with a couple nice passes. Once I got to 9th I was like ‘I think I’ve had a good run I think it’s time to settle and bring the car home straight’ because we’re off a good spot tomorrow.

It’s very fun out there. It’s been good because everyone is racing pretty hard but respectful. I think sometimes when you’re out of position people realise you’ve got a fast car so they try and follow you through when you make passes. It’s been really fun; passed a lot of people and the car is pretty clean so it’s been fun.”

Sunday would cap the weekend off with Race 6 and would see Percat and the team end their Melbourne excursion on an absolute high. Percat would take the lead following an incident between the #25 and #19 Ford Mustangs. Percat would ultimately hold the lead to the finish after a tense battle with Will Brown that saw the Bendix Racing Camaro end with a margin of 0.3810s. Race 6’s results would mark Nick Percat’s first win since 2020 and MSR’s second-ever Supercars win. Nick had the following to say to round out the day.

Nick Percat: “I think the story of what I have dealt with for a couple of years makes it a massive win for me. A massive thanks to the Bendix Racing crew and everyone at Matt Stone Racing. The moment I got to do a couple laps in Cam’s car at his rookie day earlier in the year, I went ‘oh my God this is going to be a good year’. It’s been amazing, they just do a good job, they are a racing family, all they want to do is win races and go well. I think that’s the thing that makes us strong, you’ve got core racers in there like Jimmy Stone building uprights, Matt’s on the tools — it’s the old saying of good management, you flip the pyramid upside down and be there on the ground with the troops, that’s what Matt is.”

With the 2024 MSS Security Melbourne SuperSprint in the books, we see Nick Percat at 4^th on the leaderboard with 405 points. In the team standings, Matt Stone Racing ends the second round in 4^th place on the leaderboard with a total of 637 points.

The 2024 Supercars Championship continues next month when the series heads to Taupō, New Zealand for the 2024 ITM Taupō Super400, running from April 19^th – 21^st.

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