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Nick Percat will head up a new factory team from next year’s Australian Karting Championship (AKC).
The 2011 Bathurst 1000 winner is already an AKC regular, driving an FA Kart, the brand developed in partnership with Fernando Alonso.
From 2024, he will field its factory team in local competition as part of an agreement which also includes Victorian dealer rights.
“I’ve always wanted to have a karting team. Since I was 15 years old,” said Percat.
“That was always the plan for me and my dad if the driving side didn’t work out.
“The plan is to run a proper team from next year onwards. I’m in the middle of gearing up now so we can start testing drivers in December ahead of the championship next year.
“I think I can offer a lot of advice to young drivers wanting to become a professional racing car driver. I enjoy watching young drivers come through karting and seeing their first day in a Formula Ford. So there are different elements to why I’m doing this.”
According to the announcement, the FA Kart team will field as many as 10 drivers across the junior classes, with “a group of senior drivers aiming to win titles” also part of the programme.
Percat and those drivers will be looking to impart their knowledge on their younger team-mates, with the potential for progression to competition in Formula Ford and Carrera Cup cars which his family owns.
“The structure I have is that I can run a kart team, but I also own a very good Formula Ford that the right driver could use for their first test before they are passed on to a Formula Ford team like Sonic,” he added.
“Dad and I also own a Carrera Cup car which could give a young driver their first taste of a tin top. So there are a few elements to what I’m trying to do.
“It’s not about coming and driving for me, me taking your money, and that’s it. It’s about me being able to help develop young drivers through what I know and the people I have around me, like the guys at Walkinshaw Andretti United and the fitness and nutrition work I do with Heath Meldrum.
“The driver who comes to drive for me gets access to all of that as well.
“I want 10 good young drivers that have the dream of trying to get to Supercars or IndyCar or whatever it is. The younger that starts the better, so I want to have a few kids in the cadet classes and then into juniors, as the early teenage years are massively important.
“And I still want to have two or three good senior drivers who can help with the craft of karting, who are on top of their game and capable of winning the national championship.
“They can then offer support back to the cadets and juniors. That’s the dream and that’s the plan.
“I’m geared up to do local events as well. I’ll be at club days and the Vic country series to support the FA brand. I’m kitting up a spare parts van to go to all the events and offer support to anyone running FA karts.
“So, it will be more than just the FA AKC team; there will be the dealership as well. It’s a great brand to be associated with.”
Percat is an Australian Formula Ford champion with Sonic Motor Racing Services, whose tyros he has worked with for several years now, and has previously spoken of the need to establish clear pathways from karting into professional car racing.
Presently, he drives for Walkinshaw Andretti United in the Repco Supercars Championship.
