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[Aussie V8 Supercars] Karting Grads Price And Perkins Youngest Ever Duo At Bathurst |
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Tuesday, 20 June 2006 |
KARTING GRADUATES PRICE AND PERKINS YOUNGEST EVER DUO AT BATHURST 1000
| Attachment 16576 | | V8 Supercar rookies Jack Perkins, left, and Shane Price, right, will drive the #11 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden at Sandown and Bathurst. |
LEADING Holden V8 Supercar team Jack Daniel’s Racing has announced that it will create history in this year’s Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama by fielding the youngest-ever driver combination for the famous race.
Two members of Holden’s 2006 Young Lions program, Jack Perkins, who will be 20 come race day on October 8, and Shane Price, 19, will drive the #11 Commodore at Sandown and Bathurst.
With a combined age of 39, the duo will eclipse the previous record of 40 held by cousins Jason and Scott Bargwanna, set in 1992 and Leanne Ferrier and Paul Dumbrell in 2001.
Their combined age will also be less than some of the individual V8 Supercar drivers they will line up against in the big race!
Perkins is the son of JDR team owner Larry Perkins, himself a six-time Bathurst 1000 winner and three-time Sandown 500 victor.
He and team-mate Price have been driving Perkins Motorsport-run and prepared cars in their debut year in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series, a breeding ground for future stars of the main V8 Supercar category.
Both began racing in karting, before progressing to Formula Ford and now V8 Supercars.
“Over the years I’ve tried every combination of drivers, including ex world champions, internationals and ex Bathurst winners,” said Larry Perkins.
“So I thought why not use this opportunity as a leg up for a couple of young blokes at the beginning of their careers.
“Both Shane and Jack have 10 years of competitive experience in other forms of motorsport and current form in the V8 Development Series warrants their inclusion for the enduros.”
With a round of the Fujitsu Series at Bathurst to support the main race, both drivers will be performing ‘double duty’, allowing them plenty of running time on the famed 6.2-kilometre course.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for me to be racing at Bathurst this year with Shane,” Perkins Jr said.
“It is good to get into the record books as the youngest driver combination, but we’re not getting too carried away with it all.
“The aim is to finish both races and bring the car home straight. It has been a small dream to race at Bathurst in #11, so to do it in my first year is an excellent opportunity, one that I’m very grateful for.
“It has been a big year so far with the debut in the Fujitsu Series at Adelaide as well as competing with the main series drivers at the Grand Prix and now the endurance events.”
| Attachment 16577 | | Look at this! Jack Perkins, left, and Shane Price, right, have been announced as Jack Daniel's Racing's endurance signings, joining team regulars Steven Richards and Paul Dumbrell. |
Price, who finished fourth in the last round of the Fujitsu Series at Wakefield Park and sits fifth in the championship, has proven to be one of the ‘finds’ of 2006.
The runner-up in last year’s Australian Formula Ford Championship is grateful for the opportunity to make his debut in the biggest V8 Supercar race of the season.
“Going to Bathurst we know we have a good car and we’re going to get plenty of laps around there in both the Jack Daniel’s car and our regular cars in the Development Series,” Price said.
“We’ll just go about learning the circuit and building up our knowledge as we go. We won’t be breaking lap records or racing for a podium – that’s not a realistic expectation at all. We want to keep the car straight, finish the race and do a solid job.”
Team regulars Steven Richards and Paul Dumbrell will share the #7 Jack Daniel’s Racing Holden Commodore as they team up for the second straight season in the V8 Supercar endurance events.
Perkins Jr and Price will next be in action in the Fujitsu Series as it supports the Queensland Raceway round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series at the end of July.
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