Larry Clifton Perkins (born 18 March 1950) is a former

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

and

V8 Supercar The Supercars Championship, also known as the Repco Supercars Championship under sponsorship and historically as V8 Supercars, is a touring car racing category in Australia and New Zealand, running as an International Series under Fédération I ...

team owner from Australia.

Biography

Early years

Growing up on a farm in Cowangie in the Mallee region of Victoria, Larry, the son of racing driver Eddie Perkins who had won the 1956 RedeX Round Australia Trial and maternal nephew of Bathurst 500-winner George Reynolds, developed a love for cars from a young age and loved tinkering with the farm machinery. In 1970 he was recruited as a mechanic/driver for Harry Firth's

Holden Dealer Team The Holden Dealer Team (HDT) was Holden's semi-official racing team from 1969 until 1986 Australian Touring Car season, 1986, primarily contesting Australian Touring car racing, Touring Car events but also rallying, rallycross and National Sp ...

, and although he didn't do much road racing for the team, he did race in

Rallycross Rallycross is a form of sprint style motorsport held on a mixed-surface circuit (racing), racing circuit using modified production touring automobile, cars or prototype racing cars. It began in the 1960s as a cross between rallying and autocross ...

alongside team driver

Peter Brock Peter Geoffrey Brock (26 February 1945 – 8 September 2006), known as "Peter Perfect", "The King of the Mountain", or simply "Brocky", was an Australian motor racing driver. Brock was most often associated with Holden for almost 40 years, al ...

, and was also involved with the development of the stillborn Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 V8 project which was canned in mid-1972 by the " Supercar scare".

Racing career

After winning the TAA Formula Ford "Driver To Europe" Series in 1971 and the

Australian Formula 2 Championship Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

in 1972 (both times in an Elfin 600), Perkins travelled to Europe where he won the 1975 European Formula Three Championship. He also raced in

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

during the 1974, 1976 and 1977 seasons. After failing to secure a permanent drive in Formula One he returned to Australia, winning the Rothmans International Series in 1979 in an Elfin MR8 for the Ansett Team Elfin factory team run by

Elfin Sports Cars Elfin Sports Cars Pty Ltd (formerly known as Elfin Sports Cars) is an Australian car manufacturer company that was founded by Garrie Cooper. It has been an Australian manufacturer of sports cars and motor racing cars since 1959. Elfin Sports C ...

founder Garrie Cooper, and the 1979 Australian Rallycross Championship in a

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle, officially the Volkswagen Type 1, is a small family car produced by the German company Volkswagen from 1938 to 2003. One of the most iconic cars in automotive history, the Beetle is noted for its distinctive shape. Its pr ...

. During 1982 and 1983 he worked with brother Garry on the construction of The Quiet Achiever solar car. He was one of the drivers of the car during the transcontinental solar crossing of Australia, the car using only a photovoltaic solar cell source. During these years he met with success in Australian

Touring Cars Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition that uses race-prepared touring cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not move a ...

and in 1988 he returned to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

to race at the

Le Mans 24 Hour The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with the Monaco Grand ...

with

Tom Walkinshaw Racing Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) was a motor racing team and engineering firm founded in 1976, in Kidlington, near Oxford, England, by touring car racer Tom Walkinshaw. The company initially handled privateer work before entering works touring car ...

, finishing 4th. After returning home from Europe, Perkins made his

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a Touring car racing, touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supe ...

debut in 1977 in a Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback where he finished third with

Peter Janson Percy Pierre Gustaf "Peter" Janson (born 10 April 1940 in New Zealand) is an Australian socialite and former motor racing driver. Janson was born in New Zealand, emigrating to England at a young age. In 1967, he moved to Australia and settle ...

. He went on to win the race six times (1982, 1983, 1984, 1993, 1995, 1997), with co-drivers Peter Brock (1982–84), John Harvey (1983) (all for the Holden Dealer Team which by then was owned by Brock with Perkins in charge of race car building and preparation),

Gregg Hansford Gregory John "Gregg" Hansford (8 April 1952 – 5 March 1995) was an Australian professional motorcycle and touring car racer. He competed in the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1978 to 1981 and in Australian tour ...

(1993) and in his last two wins in 1995 and 1997 with

Russell Ingall Russell Peter Ingall (born 24 February 1964 in London, England) is a former full-time Australian V8 Supercar driver. He won his V8 Supercars title in 2005, and finished second in 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2004. Ingall has also won the Bathurst 100 ...

, winning each time in an Australian developed

Holden Commodore The Holden Commodore is a series of automobiles that were sold by now-defunct Australian manufacturer Holden from 1978 until 2020. They were manufactured from 1978 to 2017 in Australia and from 1979 to 1990 in New Zealand, with production of ...

. Arguably his most memorable win was in the

1995 Tooheys 1000 The 1995 Tooheys 1000 was the 36th running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race. It was held on 1 October 1995, at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst. The race was held for cars eligible under CAMS Group 3A 5.0 Litre Touring ...

in which he dropped to last place after a pit stop at the end of the first lap to replace a flat tyre, and subsequently gained the lead with less than 10 laps remaining after the

Ford Falcon The Ford Falcon is an automobile nameplate by Ford Motor Company, Ford that applied to several vehicles worldwide. * Ford Falcon (North America), an automobile produced by Ford from 1960 to 1970. * Ford Falcon (Argentina), a car built by Ford ...

Glenn Seton Glenn Michael Seton (born 5 May 1965) is an Australian racing driver. He won the Australian Touring Car Championship in 1993 Australian Touring Car Championship, 1993 and 1997 Australian Touring Car Championship, 1997 while driving for his own ...

retired having dropped a valve in the

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...

. Perkins and co-driver Russell Ingall thus became only the second driving combination in the history of the race to recover from last place to win the event. Perkins has however, never won an

Australian Touring Car Championship The Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) is a touring car racing award held in Australia since 1960. The series itself is no longer contested, but the title lives on, with the winner of the Repco Supercars Championship awarded the troph ...

, his best championship results being three fourth places.

Formula One

Perkins made his first appearance in Formula One at the 1974 German Grand Prix for Chris Amon Racing. With regular driver and team owner

Chris Amon Christopher Arthur Amon (; 20 July 1943 – 3 August 2016) was a New Zealand racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers to never win a Formula One Grands Prix, ...

sidelined with sinusitis after just one practice lap, Perkins took over in the AF101, failing to qualify after crashing on the second day of practice. In 1976 he signed a deal with the works

Boro BORO (Business Objects Reference Ontology) is an approach to developing ontological or semantic models for large complex operational applications that consists of a top ontology as well as a process for constructing the ontology. It was originally ...

team, for the team's first season. He made his first Formula One start at the

Spanish Grand Prix The Spanish Grand Prix (, ) is a Formula One motor racing event currently held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The race is one of the oldest in the world still contested, celebrating its centenary in 2013. The race had modest beginnings ...

, finishing 13th before achieving a seasons best result of 8th at the following race in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. He failed to qualify at

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

and retired from the

Swedish Grand Prix The Swedish Grand Prix () was a round of the Formula One World Championship from 1973 to 1978. It took place at the Scandinavian Raceway in Anderstorp ( Gislaved Municipality), about from Jönköping, in Småland, Sweden. The first race to hold ...

after blowing an engine. With the team's money drying up, Perkins only made two further appearances in a Boro, retiring from the Dutch and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Grands Prix, and after Boro's withdrawal, was left without a drive. He replaced

Carlos Reutemann Carlos Alberto "Lole" Reutemann (12 April 1942 – 7 July 2021) was an Argentine racing driver and politician, who competed in Formula One from to and served as the Governor of Santa Fe from 1999 to 2003. Reutemann was runner-up in the Form ...

Brabham Motor Racing Developments Ltd., commonly known as Brabham ( ), was a British race car, racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. It was founded in 1960 by the Australian driver Jack Brabham and the British-Australian designer Ron Ta ...

for the final three races of the year, finishing in 17th position in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and retiring from the remaining two races. For the beginning of 1977, the Australian secured a drive for Stanley BRM, the remnants of the once great BRM team. After his car failed to be delivered on time for the opening Grand Prix, he made his first appearance at the

Brazilian Grand Prix The Brazilian Grand Prix (), currently held under the name São Paulo Grand Prix (), is a Formula One championship race which is currently held at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in Interlagos neighborhood, Cidade Dutra, São Paulo. The in ...

, albeit 12.1 seconds off the pace and retiring after one lap. Lapped five times before finishing 15th in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, Perkins lost his seat to Conny Andersson at the beginning of the European season. He had a brief stint at

Surtees Surtees may refer to: People *Surti Muslims *Surtees (surname), an English surname Places *Surtees Bridge, a road bridge across the River Tees in Stockton-on-Tees Others *Surtees Racing Organisation, a British racing team and constructor *Surtee ...

, finishing 12th in

and failing to qualify in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. At the

French Grand Prix The French Grand Prix (), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championship. It is one of the oldest ...

, he drove in Friday practice, but was replaced by

Patrick Tambay Patrick Daniel Tambay (; 25 June 1949 – 4 December 2022) was a French racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North ...

the next day. This marked the end of Perkins' brief and unsuccessful Formula One career.

Retirement and legacy

Perkins retired from driving in 2003, aged 53 and was inducted into the

V8 Supercars Hall of Fame The Supercars Hall of Fame is a collection of individuals and events that recognise the efforts of past champions and prominent figures within the Supercars Championship in Australia. A new inductee is announced annually at the championship's end o ...

in 2008. In addition to his racing credentials as a driver he is an accomplished automotive engineer and engine-builder having built many race cars for both his own team and for other racing teams. He is well known for his outgoing and humorous personality. His nickname is "LP", but he is often referred to as "

Lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

Larry" or "

Larrikin Larrikin is an Australian English term meaning "a mischievous young person, an uncultivated, rowdy but good-hearted person", or "a person who acts with apparent disregard for social or political conventions". In the 19th and early 20th centurie ...

Larry". Larry is the father of V8 Supercar race winner Jack Perkins. On 7 December 2017, the "Larry Perkins Trophy" was named in his honour. It is awarded to the driver who accumulates the most points across the four races at the Beaurepaires Melbourne 400, the Supercars event supporting the

Australian Grand Prix The Australian Grand Prix is an annual Formula One motor racing event, taking place in Melbourne, Victoria. The event is contracted to be held at least until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Gran ...

. In 2018 Perkins and his brother Peter discovered the lost cache of equipment left behind in the

Simpson Desert The Simpson Desert is a large area of dry, red sandy plain and dunes in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland in central Australia. It is the fourth-largest Deserts of Australia, Australian desert, with an area of . The Wangka ...

by explorers Henry Vere Barclay and Ronald MacPherson in 1904. The explorers had been forced to abandon the load, which included camel tanks, tools, scientific equipment and personal belongings, in order to cross sandhills to get to a water source. The Perkins' discovery was described as a "highly significant archaeological find". In the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours Perkins was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

for "significant service to motorsport as a touring car driver and team owner".

Racing record

Career summary

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key)

Complete World Sportscar Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Australian Touring Car Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) † Not eligible for series points

Complete Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

References

External links

Larry Perkins
Comprehensive Biography and Race Record {{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins, Larry 1950 births Members of the Order of Australia 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Amon Formula One drivers Australian Formula 2 drivers Australian Formula One drivers Australian Touring Car Championship drivers Bathurst 1000 winners Brabham Formula One drivers BRM Formula One drivers Boro Formula One drivers FIA European Formula 3 Championship drivers Formula Ford drivers Living people Racing drivers from Victoria (state) Surtees Formula One drivers Supercars Championship drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers Australian Endurance Championship drivers Jaguar Racing drivers Dick Johnson Racing drivers People from Murrayville, Victoria