VICTORIAN karter Adam Hughes has enlisted Adelaide boy and former Bathurst 1000 champion Nick Percat as his inside man for the SA leg of the elite national CIK Stars of KartingSeries this weekend.
Hughes, last year’s Pro Lite winner, makes his category debut in the premier Pro Gearbox class at Bolivar Raceway today after budget restrictions forced him to miss the opening round in Queensland.
The 24-year-old will have 2011 Bathurst cochampion Percat in his garage, filling in for his regular chief engineer.Karting export Percat, who raced extensively at Bolivar as a junior, has stepped in to help boost sponsorship for Hughes and spent the past four weeks overseeing testing to prepare his good mate for the jump in class.
‘‘I’m just here on the tools to make sure the kart runs fine and help where I can,’’ Percat said.
Hughes followed the likes of V8 Supercar drivers Jamie Whincup and Mark Winterbottom in winning last year’s title.
His victory gave him a $10,000 grant to race an overseas event this year. But he said his focus was on finding a competitive level in his home series.
Racing in Pro Gearbox, Pro Lite and Pro Junior categories is at Bolivar from 9am today and tomorrow.
