NICK Percat has confirmed the signatures of eight drivers to compete for his new JND Racing team next year in the Australian Kart Championship.
The JND roster will be spearheaded by national champion Brad Jenner in the elite X30 class.
Also in the senior ranks will be Robbie Graham (KA3), while the rest of the line-up is focused on stars of future.
Brad Majman will lead the charge in KA2 juniors; Riley Harrison, Harry Bresenhan and Jack Szewczuk will all contest KA3 juniors; and Beau Casagrande and Hudson Petta will race in Cadet 12.
“A big part of me running a team was to make sure we’re investing time into the future of karting and motorsport,” Percat told V8 Sleuth.
“It would have been easy to go and grab a bunch of established drivers in the senior ranks but it’s important to have a good crop of juniors and cadets.
“I’m very fortunate that a good friend of mine, Brad Jenner, he’s there to represent the brand well in the karting community but also help the younger drivers with the way they drive the kart and how they understand the set-up and stuff like that.
“He’s probably one of the best we’ve had in the country so I think it was important to have him there as well to be a bit of a role model outside of what I do.”
Percat’s fleet of FA Karts arrived in Australia in September. A test day is planned for next month ahead of a bumper 2024.
“We’re looking to go pretty big in year one,” he said.
“If the year goes well next year, there’s half a chance that we’ll walk away with a few national titles which would be huge.”
Ongoing team owner duties will keep Percat busy between his Repco Supercars Championship program with Matt Stone Racing, who he’ll join this off-season on a two-year deal.
“I’ll be hands-on. Sometimes it’s five days a week building the karts and getting them ready and sometimes it’s two,” he said.
“I’m spending quite a bit of time on it at the moment but I guess I’m lucky that the factory I’m working out of is only 15 minutes from home and I have the help of Jake Spencer and Daniel Rochford to run the team to a very high level.
“I really enjoy doing the karting stuff, it’s kind of relaxing to me.”
The 35-year-old will make one last round start with Walkinshaw Andretti United at this month’s VAILO Adelaide 500.
