The South Australian finished a solid seventh in the opening race of the Betr Darwin Triple Crown, engine concerns notwithstanding, but then topped that with a fifth on the Sunday in the #10 Chevrolet Camaro.

He did so despite qualifying 13th for the 48-lapper, meaning he gained more positions over the course of the race than all but David Reynolds (21st to 12th).

“It’s been a really good weekend for the whole MSR team,” said Percat.

“The Bendix car came home in fifth position today having come from 13th — we had really good car speed in the race but the real credit is to the team in the pits.

“The improvement this year has been unbelievable, they absolutely nailed the pit stops today so I couldn’t be more proud of the work they’re doing back at the shop.

“Cam was in the top 10 too so it was a really good day for the whole of Matt Stone Racing. Can’t wait to head to Townsville now and keep this form rolling.”

Percat started the weekend sixth in the Repco Supercars Championship standings, and gave a very blunt self-appraisal of his performance at Taupo and Wanneroo during the Friday press conference in Darwin.

Now, though, he sits behind only Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Will Brown and Broc Feeney, and his former Walkinshaw Andretti United team-mate, Chaz Mostert.

On the other side of the MSR garage, Cameron Hill was classified 18th on the Saturday and Hidden Valley before finishing ninth on the Sunday and is now 16th in the drivers’ standings.

“A really good Sunday for the MSR team; on the Car #4 side we qualified in the top 10 and got the run in the shootout,” said Hill.

“Then in the race it was a top 10 result for me in ninth and Nick obviously moved up to fifth which was awesome.

“We had fast cars as soon as we rolled out of the truck, the team executed faultlessly all weekend, so just have to thank them for all the hard work.

“It’s all making sense — some more good results are obviously coming our way.

“It’s funny how you can be chasing the top 10 and then all of a sudden you’re in the top 10 and you’re saying ‘should have been top five’.

“Can’t wait for the next one.”

The next one is the NTI Townsville 500 on July 5-7, while MSR announced in Darwin that Percat will be joined by Dylan O’Keeffe for the enduros.