WHEN Nick Percat was thrust into the Supercars spotlight in 2011 by winning the Bathurst 1000 in his maiden appearance there was plenty of talk about a bright future.
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However, Percat soon discovered converting his potential into strong results does not always come easily.
While there have been two more Bathurst podiums as a full-time Supercars driver since 2011, as well as win at Adelaide, Percat has struggled to find consistency.
But now, in his third year with Brad Jones Racing, that consistency is starting to come. Percat sits eighth in the championship and across his last five races, has only been outside the top 10 once.
Plenty of that has to do with the improvements made to his Holden Commodore ZB. But Percat's results are also due to the work he has done away from the track and when not buckled in with helmet on.
"It's been getting my head in the right spot and worrying about things I can control. I've been seeing a sports psych," Percat said.
"I was using Anthony from 2007 through to 2014 when I was at Walkinshaw Racing and then I had a few years doing my own thing. Then actually after Bathurst 2017 when I crashed out, I called him up on Monday morning and said 'Look, we need to get the band back together and start trying to improve what I'm doing off the track'.
"There's been a lot of that stuff, the training side of things is still ticking over, but it's a bit more about getting my head in the right spot and making sure it works out."
As well as a sports psychologist helping Percat being in a good place mentally, the relationships he has with engineer Andrew Edwards and team boss Brad Jones have aided him as well.
It means Percat is hopeful of bettering his past two Bathurst 1000 results for the team - a DNF in 2017 when crashing on the final lap and a seventh last year. He will have Tim Blanchard as co-driver.
"Obviously I've been with the team for a few years now, but it's the first time in my Supercars career that I've had the same engineer for this amount of time. Obviously Andrew and myself work well together and click well," he said.
"I think when you've got a guy in your corner who understands what you need and how to make it happen, it makes my life a lot easier too.
"Brad has also been putting the faith in me and we've worked hard behind the scenes to iron out a few things and get on top of a few things on track and it's starting to show its head now.
"It has taken a little bit longer that I've wanted, but I'm happy and I'm looking forward to getting to Bathurst and trying to get Brad a good result.
"Brad sees all the work I'm doing, so's the team, and they are pushing as hard as I am and everyone lifts a bit and I think that's why, especially on my side of the garage, the results have been quite strong. The car has got some good speed at the moment and it is all coming together. It's nice coming into enduro season with a bit of form."
