After the action of the last round of the Australian V8 Supercar series ♔in New Zealand, WA is the the 🍎next destination for the premier tin top series in the southern hemisphere...

Rival V8 Supercar Championship Series drivers Paul Dumbrell and Craig Baird have moved on following a monster crash in New Zealaജnd just over two weeks ago ahead of this weekend's Per🐟th V8 400 at Barbagallo Raceway in Western Australia.

The pair were the subjects of the specꦍtacular incident that made headlines around the world. Neither was injured and now with the accident behind them both are solely focused on Perth.

"Naturally enough I'm pretty devastated to have that occur but all we can do is to keep our c💟hin up and heౠad to Perth and do a good job there," said 22-year-old Dumbrell.

For Baird it meant his WPS Falcon pretty much had to be rebuilt from the ground up. The Kiwi's WPS team was❀ able to fix the damage after flying the car back from New Zealand.

"To have the finished WPS Racing Falcon on the road and ready to race in Perth is aꦜ great accomplishment for everyone involved," said team owner Craig Gore.

"We then took delivery of the car at our Gold Coast base tꦏhe following weekend, where we quickly stripped the car and then had the chassis totally rebuilt."

Another🐓 spectacular casualty of New Zealand, T🥀eam BOC's Brad Jones, had similar problems when he rolled his Falcon in a separate incident, ironically following a nudge from his nephew Andrew Jones who drives for Garry Rogers Motorsport.

Brad Jones will race in Perth following an around the clock repair job by his team. "I havಌe to say that the crew has 🅺done an amazing job," Jones said. "They worked out of a workshop in Auckland for a week with only the tools we took in our transporter. To repair a car that has rolled multiple times and landed on its side, with only a basic set of equipment, is just incredible."

While damage bills are prominent, celebrations will also be the norm in Perth. Team Betta Electrical's Craig Lowndes celebrates his 100th event while his FPR team-mate of last year Glenn Seton, now 𓄧with Westpoint Racing, celebrates his 40th birthday on Thursday.

Making a brilliant V8 Supercar Championship debut🙈 in 1996, the then 22-year-old Lowndes became only the second driver in history to win Sandown and Bathurst as well as taking out championship honours in one season - a feat no other driver has repeated since.

In fac🅠t, the only other driver to win Bathurst, Sandown and the series title all in the same year was the legendary Peter Brock; clearly, a very special💞 talent had emerged in Australian motorsport.

"What an incredible mil🔜estone; I can't believe that this is my 100th round already... I'm very lucky to ha꧙ve had the opportunity and support to remain in the sport for so long," Lowndes said.

"I'll definitely be pushing hard... I'd really like to celebrate my hundredth round the same way I took out my first.... with a win. 🦂I love what I do; I'm still motivated and passionate."

Lo🐲wndes has a special bond with Perth. Between 1996 and 2000 Lowndes won all 12 races he competed in. It is largely one of the reasons the Holden Racin🔯g Team has such an impressive record at the track, even if it hasn't been lately.

Since 1995, HRT has won six times in Perth and had a further sev📖en podium finishes while in 1997, 1998 and 2000 they finished 1-2.

Seton remains ultra-competitive in the category with his supremeඣ fitness and dedication to perfection. "I always said that I'll continue to race for as long as I am competitive," he said.

"I don't think age makes any difference when it comes to being competitive as𓃲 long as you have the hunger, the passion and the drive for it. If you are fit, motivated and able to do the job it wouldn't matter if you were 15 or 50."

Ford Performance Racing's Jason Bright returns to Perth as defending V8 Supercar Champion, and following the car speed gains ma൩de in New Zealand, is confident of a strong team performance across the Nullabor.

His team-mate Greg Ritter will be making his V8 Supercar debut at Barbagallo, but he is no stranger to the Perth 🅠venue, having enjoyed podium successes th🧸ere on his way to winning the 1999 Formula Ford Championship.