An exciting new era for Bathurst legend Larry Perkins’ renowned Holden V8 Supercar operation has been heralded in today with the unveiling of the 2007 Jack Daniel’s Racing team at its Melbourne headquarters. Rookie sensations Shane Price and Jack Perkins lifted the covers off the first of two striking new Jack Daniel’s Racing VE Commodores the pair will debut at the season opening Clipsal 500 in Adelaide in just over three weeks time. It was the first reveal of any Holden factory supported V8 Supercar team’s VE Commodores.
The new generation Commodores have been built in-house by Perkins Engineering and are the result of an 18 month collaboration between Holden, its factory supported teams and TEGA. Over 3,000 man-hours were put in by Perkins Engineering staff building the first of the two cars.
Price and Jack Perkins were the standout performers in last year’s Fujitsu V8 Supercar ‘development’ Series, finishing second and third in their debut year and earning them a promotion to the V8 ‘main game’ in 2007. “For a couple of rookies like Jack and myself, I don’t think life could get much more exciting than this; here we are just a couple of weeks away from making our fulltime ‘main game’ debut and unveiling the first of our brand new VE Commodores with backing from great sponsors in Jack Daniel’s and Holden, †Price said.
“With new cars and drivers, we are going to be a bit of an unknown quantity in Adelaide, but everyone within Jack Daniel’s Racing is confident it will all work out. “This time last year when Jack and I made our Fujitsu Series debut everything in V8s was new to us and we needed to be extra careful. While we will still show some caution, this year we can take a slightly different approach. We have set our goals and think they are achievable. â€
Jack Perkins said the reveal was a significant moment for the Jack Daniel’s team. “To launch the first team VE Commodore for Holden is a tribute to the 30-40 guys at Perkins Engineering who have surrendered a lot of hours from their personal lives – they’ve done an awesome job, †Perkins said.
“It just goes to show how committed everyone within the team is to the success of Jack Daniel’s Racing, which is a great confidence builder for Shane and I. “I’m still shocked that I’ve got a drive in the main game as just before Christmas our intentions were to do another year in the development series, but Dad [Larry] has put his faith in me, as have Jack Daniel’s and Holden. “Both Shane and I are now working fulltime in the race shop doing whatever’s required to get the team ready and contribute to its success. We are under no illusions as to how tough our rookie season will be, it’s going to be extremely hard, but we’re excited and ready. â€
Managing Director for Jack Daniel’s Australia, Mr Michael McShane said the company was looking forward to building on the outstanding success experienced during its first foray into V8 Supercars last year. “When we launched Jack Daniel’s Racing in February last year, we were confident that bringing together two iconic brands in Jack Daniel’s and Perkins Engineering would be a success, and we were right – 2006 was a great year, †McShane said. “Now the next phase in our relationship is launched, and with the signing of Shane Price and Jack Perkins – both incredible talents who deserve this opportunity – and the addition of the stunning new VE Commodores we are even more excited. †McShane said its V8 Supercar program would again endorse the ‘Pace Yourself.
Please Drink Responsibly’ message “Jack Daniel’s has a long standing record of promoting responsible consumption and our new look team gives us the perfect opportunity to continue building upon that with V8 Supercar fans. †The 2007 V8 Supercar Championship Series begins with the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide on 1-4 March.
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