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. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

and

V8 Supercar The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport. Supercars events take place in all Australian ...

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, primarily contesting Australian Touring Car events but also rallying, rallycross and Sports Sedan races during the 1970s. From 1980 the Holden Dealer ...

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

, 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 The Supercar scare was a national controversy that arose in Australia in 1972 in regard to the sale to the public of high performance "homologation special" versions of Australian-built passenger cars. The reason Despite the popular belief of ...

Racing career

After winning the TAA Formula Ford "Driver To Europe" Series in 1971 and the Australian Formula 2 Championship in 1972 (both times in an

Elfin 600 The Elfin Type 600 is a Formula car produced from 1968 to 1971 by Elfin Sports Cars in Australia. The model was originally developed to compete in the Australian 1½ Litre Formula but later variants were also produced for other categories includ ...

), Perkins travelled to Europe where he won the 1975 European Formula Three Championship. He also raced in

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship ...

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 Elfin may refer to: * ELFIN, a CubeSat developed by University of California, Los Angeles * Elfin (steamboat), a steamboat that ran on Lake Washington from 1891 to 1900 * Elfin of Alt Clut, ruler of Alt Clut, seventh century Scotland *Elfin, a cha ...

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 Garrie Clifford Cooper (22 December 1935 - 25 April 1982) was the founder of the highly successful Elfin Sports Cars and a competitive racing driver in his own right, winning the 1968 Singapore Grand Prix, the 1968 Australian 1½ Litre Champ ...

, and the

1979 Australian Rallycross Championship The 1979 Australian Rallycross Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German (meaning "beetle"), in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, ...

. 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 and in 1988 he returned to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

to race at the Le Mans 24 Hour 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 (formally known as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most re ...

debut in 1977 in a Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback where he finished third with Peter Janson. 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 to ...

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

Russell Ingall Russell 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 1000, i ...

, winning each time in an Australian developed Holden Commodore. 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 C ...

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 Ford Falcon is an automobile nameplate 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 Argentina from 1962 until 1991. * For ...

Glenn Seton Glenn Seton (born 5 May 1965) is an Australian racing driver. He won the Australian Touring Car Championship in 1993 and 1997 while driving for his own team. Although he never won the Bathurst 1000 like his father Barry did in 1965, Glenn ...

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 ...

. 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 trop ...

, 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 Chris Amon Racing, also known simply as Amon, was a Formula One team established by New Zealand driver Chris Amon. It competed as a privateer team in the 1966 Italian Grand Prix, then as a constructor in its own right in the 1974 Formula One sea ...

. With regular driver and team owner Chris Amon 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 team, for the team's first season. He made his first Formula One start at the

Spanish Grand Prix The Spanish Grand Prix ( es, Gran Premio de España, ca, Gran Premi d'Espanya) 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 it ...

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

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

. He failed to qualify at

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word ...

and retired from the

Swedish Grand Prix The Swedish Grand Prix (Swedish: Sveriges 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, Sw ...

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

Rolf Stommelen Rolf Johann Stommelen (11 July 1943 – 24 April 1983) was a racing driver from Siegen, Germany. He participated in 63 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one podium, and scored a total of 14 championship points. He also partici ...

Brabham Brabham () is the common name for Motor Racing Developments Ltd., a British racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. Founded in 1960 by Australian driver Jack Brabham and British-Australian designer Ron Tauranac, the team won fo ...

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

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

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 ( pt, Grande Prêmio do Brasil), currently held under the name São Paulo Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prêmio de São Paulo), is a Formula One championship race which is currently held at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace ...

, 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 southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

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

Surtees The Surtees Racing Organisation was a race team that spent nine seasons (1970 to 1978) as a constructor in Formula One, Formula 2, and Formula 5000. History The team was formed by John Surtees, a four-time 500cc motorcycle champion and the ...

, finishing 12th in

and failing to qualify in Sweden. At the

French Grand Prix The French Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de France), 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 Champions ...

, 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, commentator, and politician, who competed in 123 Formula One races between 1977 and 1986, securing five pole positions and winning twice. Between 1977 and 1981, ...

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 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 naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an average ...

Larry" or " Larrikin 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 motor racing event which is under contract to host Formula One until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Grand Prix has moved frequently with 23 different venu ...

. 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 Australian desert, with an area of . The desert is underlain by the ...

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 honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian ...

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 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 (Australia) Surtees Formula One drivers Supercars Championship drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers Australian Endurance Championship drivers Jaguar Racing drivers Dick Johnson Racing drivers