25 best Supercars drivers since 2000: #20 Nick Percat

As 2025 gets underway, Supercars.com is ranking the top 25 drivers of the last 25 years, continuing with Nick Percat, who comes in as our #20.

Once one of the hottest prospects as the Walkinshaw Group's star of the future, Nick Percat's career has taken on a very different path to what many would have envisioned.

After becoming the first rookie since 1977 to win Bathurst in 2011, Percat had to wait until 2014 to make his full-time debut in a fourth Walkinshaw Commodore, before being farmed out to Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport.

A move to Brad Jones Racing in 2017 saw Percat establish himself as one of the most consistent drivers who would consistently outperform his machinery, before a disastrous return to Walkinshaw nearly saw him quit the sport.

A career lifeline at Matt Stone Racing last year reminded everyone of his talent and returned to his BJR form, fighting for and achieving race wins in Melbourne and Tasmania.

Nick Percat's key stats since 2000

Years active: 2010-present

Rounds: 155

Races: 340

Best championship position: 7th (2020, 2021)

Best finish: 1st (6 wins)

Top three finishes: 16

Best start: 1st (2 pole positions)

Best Bathurst result: 1st (2011)

The highlight

Any time you win the Bathurst 1000 is a big deal, but to do it in your debut year at Mount Panorama only elevates that achievement.

Paired up with Garth Tander, by that stage a two-time winner of the Great Race, in the Holden Racing Team's flagship #2 Commodore, it was a baptism of fire for the then-23-year-old.

After surviving a scare at Griffins Bend where he tagged the wall, Percat then held his own against some of the biggest names to have ever competed in Supercars such as Mark Skaife.

Percat's stints throughout the day were vital in getting the HRT entry to the front of the field, with Tander able to fend off Skaife's co-driver Craig Lowndes in an unforgettable late race duel.

Further highlighting Percat's achievement, the last driver to win Bathurst on debut was Belgian Jacky Ickx in 1977, the former Ferrari F1 driver having also won eight Grands Prix and six Le Mans 24 Hours in an illustrious career.

Why we picked him

Although he often drives machinery that isn't acknowledged as the best on the grid, Percat has developed a knack for fighting at or near the front of the field in midfield machinery.

We first got a glimpse of this in 2016 at LDM, with a shock win on home soil at the Adelaide 500, before following up later in the year with an equally surprising Bathurst podium alongside Cameron McConville.

But it was at BJR where Percat's knack of dragging big results out of underdog machinery truly began to shine, with 2020 and 2021 in particular continuing to stand as his best years in Supercars.

Last year matched his best season tally of wins at two, as a return to a midfield team reinvigorated his career and reminded everyone of the talent the 36-year-old possesses.

The views in this article do not necessarily express the opinions of Supercars, teams or drivers.