‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ is the approach from Greg Murphy and his continued appointment of Australian V8 Supercar driver Jack Perkins as his co-driver ahead of the BNT V8 SuperTourers endurance rounds beginning 27-28 September in Taupo.
The pairing has already secured success with Perkins helping Murphy to secure the 2013 V8 SuperTourers Championship series. Given the history, Murph feels it was hard to consider anyone else.
“Jack ticks all the boxes you could ask from a co-driver. He’s extremely fast, drives a clean race and provides accurate feedback to the team on car set-up. I genuinely didn’t consider anyone else and I’m very grateful he agreed to return to the series this year” said Murphy of his team mate.
As son of the great V8 racer and engineer, Larry Perkins, Jack comes from V8 racing pedigree of the highest order, but is rightfully cementing his own mark on the sport in Australia behind the wheel of the FPR-developed Jeld Wen Racing Falcon.
Jack is looking forward to additional track time in the Mike Pero Racing Commodore, a vehicle that is dynamically similar to the Australian’s ‘V8 SuperCar’.
“While there’s clear differences in power and the running gear, the two cars still feel similar enough for time in the V8 SuperTourer to be a genuine benefit to any V8 Supercar driver.”
“The ‘Control’ nature of the chassis and the parity from a one-engine class makes for really tight racing. It’s a great experience, especially co-driving with Murph and being part of the Pro M3 Racing Team again” Says Perkins.
The duo will head into the first Endurance round as favourites but don’t underestimate the pressure they will face from competitors. Among the usual pack of V8 SuperTourer talent like Ant Pederson, Simon Evans and Murph’s own M3 Racing team mate, Richard Moore, the endurance round will bring more Australian V8 Supercar drivers including Tim Slade and Shane Van Gisbergen.
“It will be super competitive again this year, which I think is the best part of the series,” says Murph.
“As drivers we want to pitch ourselves against each other in cars that are, with the exception of some basic set-up changes and body panels, identical. And the fans get to watch the best drivers go door handle to door handle all weekend long.”
