NICK Percat has heaped praise on Tim Slade after the pair’s rock-solid Bend 500 propelled the #10 Chevrolet driver back into finals contention.

There’s no denying the past few months had been tricky as Matt Stone Racing’s form across the board faded and unexpectedly Percat’s future has become clouded despite him having another two years to run on his contract.

None of that could stop the all-South Australian line-up of Percat/Slade placing fifth in the Ryco Enduro Cup opener.

They finished second among the Chevrolet contingent, only behind Triple Eight’s Will Brown/Scott Pye.

“It’s good. Obviously you want to be winning and on the podium, but a solid weekend for the whole team really with Cam (Hill) putting in a big lap in the Shootout, both qualified well, co-drivers did a good job,” Percat, who turned 37 on Sunday, told V8 Sleuth.

“You always want trophies but it’s what I expect when I have someone like Sladey in the car with me.

Pic: Mark Walker

“You’re only looking to be in that top five because he’s up there with the Tanders and the Whincups, so I knew if we just did a solid job and executed, we’d be there or thereabouts.

“We probably didn’t quite have the pace late in the run but I kind of knew we didn’t have track position to get to the podium, so I thought fifth is a solid result, so we consolidated in the back half of the race.

“Now we reset and go to Bathurst. The good thing for the boys is the car is straight, there wasn’t a mark on it all weekend.”

When Slade retired as a full-timer at the end of last season, he was quickly highlighted as a golden solution to Car #10’s enduro hiccups experienced in 2024.

“That’s why it’s important for teams to employ really good co-drivers,” said Percat, who had been teammates with Slade at Walkinshaw Racing (2014) and Brad Jones Racing (2017-19).

“Having someone like Sladey in the garage bouncing ideas off makes it super easy.

“I reckon every Christmas I message Garth (Tander) or someone like ‘what do we have to do?’ because you need that kind of calibre of driver in your corner, so it’s good.”

Nick Percat. Pic: Ross Gibb

So, the f-word: finals.

Percat had been 13th and 179 points below the cut line prior to The Bend 500.

Now he is 12th and just 37 points away entering the last ‘regular season’ round, being Bathurst.

“We always said if we were within 100 points of the top 10 come the enduros, we were a big shot to end up in there,” said Percat.

“We go to Bathurst with confidence: the cars were quick there at both events last year.

“So we just need another solid day, don’t need to do anything crazy; if you’re in a position to win it obviously you go for it, but other than that, just another solid weekend with no mistakes and maximise what we have.

“If we end up in the 10, we end up in the 10.”