JACK Perkins believes a case of copying one another’s homework is how both Jarrod Hughes and Cooper Murray came to effectively run out of fuel in the Gold Coast 500 finale.
“I was prepared to really come on here and be very forthright, but I decided that I needed to understand the facts – and it’s hard to get all the facts but the information that’s available is the stationary time in pitlane,” Perkins said via The Undercut.
The forthright component was a preparedness to rip into General Motors for what’s been perceived to be illegal manufacturer manipulation in order to get the Camaro of Anton De Pasquale into the Sandown semi-finals.
That train of thought has been rejected by Supercars, GM, PremiAir Racing and Erebus Motorsport alike, and Triple Eight Ford-aligned Perkins says the stationary pitstop times support those denials.
Which comes back to the “Chevy calculator” needing another whack, just weeks on from Team 18’s infamous Bathurst balls-up.
“I’m going to run my own theory that the Car #99 of Hughes came in and put 21.1 seconds in for the last stop. That’s the first stuff-up. They were short at that point,” said Perkins.
Supercars Finals & Team Orders | The Undercut
THE Supercars Finals have landed for 2026, leaving plenty to unpack in this week’s episode of The Undercut!
“Then the second car, Murray driving for PremiAir, he has come in the next lap and I think they have done a bit of ‘we need to race that car, let’s do similar or a fraction shorter on fuel’ which they did 21.2 seconds stationary time. They’re both stuffed.
“This is copying someone in the school exam… I reckon that’s what has happened and then they have both had to come in and put in, respectively, 6.0 and 6.7 seconds’ worth of fuel.
“And if I’m Roland Dane, I am ropeable. And Barry Ryan from Erebus.
“That just shouldn’t be happening, especially after Bathurst.”
Perkins and co-host Aaron Noonan further debate the fine line attached to team orders and various other hot topics in the freshly released episode of The Undercut, viewable above.