{"id":90950,"date":"2025-10-20T22:48:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T22:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/90950\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T22:48:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T22:48:14","slug":"supercars-news-nick-percat-expects-awkward-battles-with-finals-drivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/90950\/","title":{"rendered":"Supercars news: Nick Percat expects \u2018awkward\u2019 battles with Finals drivers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Percat
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNick Percat, left, aims to mix it with the Finals Series drivers. Image: InSyde Media <\/p>\n

Supercars is hyping up the fight between its 10 finalists ahead of the Gold Coast \u2018Elimination Final\u2019, where three will be removed from championship contention.<\/p>\n

Three more will be cut after the penultimate round at Sandown to leave a four-driver showdown for the crown at the Adelaide Grand Final.<\/p>\n

However, the remaining drivers will still battle it out for race results across the three events, including the retiring Percat.<\/p>\n

The 2011 Bathurst 1000 winner was denied a chance to make a late play at a Finals spot thanks to engine failure early in the Great Race.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t get a full chance to get into the Finals with what happened at Bathurst, so I guess if I\u2019m at the front, it\u2019s probably spoiling people\u2019s days,\u201d said the now GC-based driver.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think anyone who\u2019s not in the 10, it\u2019s going to be probably awkward.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guys in the top 10 of the championship in the Finals are probably going to feel a bit entitled to be ahead of other drivers who aren\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s just any other race, so if we happen to take points off them by beating them, that\u2019s their own issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Percat noted the championship got an early taste of differing priorities at Bathurst.<\/p>\n

Already locked into the Finals, Broc Feeney knocked Andre Heimgartner from the coveted 10th place in points with a last-lap overtake.<\/p>\n

Untelevised last lap moment reveals Heimgartner\u2019s Finals downfall<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure if [Heimgartner] had his time again, he would have fought to the death against Broc to make sure he had that position,\u201d said Percat.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s going to be interesting how they race against people not in the Finals championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Percat is yet to score a podium finish at the Gold Coast event and is under no illusions as to the challenge this weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d love to go out on a high and get myself a surfboard [trophy], but just because I\u2019m retiring doesn\u2019t mean I can find another gear or cheat to get one,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still really hard work, all the normal guys are going to be really fast.<\/p>\n

\u201cI expect the Triple Eight guys to come out firing after a bit of a poor enduro season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Penrite cars are super fast around here and Erebus last year, so it\u2019s going to be hard to be at the front.<\/p>\n

\u201cQualifying is going to make the race, so if you qualify at the front, it\u2019s going to make your day a lot easier.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I can keep making Top 10 Shootouts and stuff for the rest of the year and have good results, it\u2019ll be a nice way to hang up the helmet full time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Percat fell to 15th in the championship with his Bathurst engine failure, while Matt Stone Racing teammate Cam Hill also missed out on Finals in 11th.<\/p>\n

How Supercars standings sit ahead of Elimination Final<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nick Percat, left, aims to mix it with the Finals Series drivers. Image: InSyde Media Supercars is hyping…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90951,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[18308,111,139,51561,69,1058,213],"class_list":{"0":"post-90950","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-matt-stone-racing","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nick-percat","12":"tag-nz","13":"tag-slot1","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}