Winston Walter Frederick Percy (born 28 September 1943, near

Tolpuddle Tolpuddle () is a village in the civil parish of Burleston and Tolpuddle, in Dorset, England, on the River Piddle from which it takes its name, east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester, the county town, and west of Poole. The estimated populatio ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

) is a British former

motor racing 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 gene ...

driver from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Percy was British Touring Car Champion three times, and at the time of his retirement was the most successful non- Antipodean driver ever to compete in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

's premier national motorsport event, the

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 ...

km.

Joe Saward Jonathan Mark Christopher Saward (born 14 July 1961) is a British Formula One journalist. Life and career Saward was educated at Haileybury College and attained a degree in history at Bedford College, University of London. In 1984 he joined ''A ...

of ''

Autosport ''Autosport'' is a global motorsport publishing brand headquartered based in Richmond, London, England. It was established in 1950 at the same time as the origins of the Formula One, Formula One World Championship. Autosport began life as a we ...

'' magazine said he was "often regarded as the World's Number One Touring Car Driver".

Early years

Percy found his way into motor sport through his first employment as a motor mechanic at his local garage. His first race was in 1964, in a local time-trial event driving his own road-going

Ford Anglia The Ford Anglia is a small family car that was designed and manufactured by Ford UK. It is related to the Ford Prefect and the later Ford Popular. The Anglia name was applied to various models between 1939 and 1967. In total, 1,594,486 Angli ...

1200. He won, beating drivers of far more powerful cars in the process. While he initially pursued competitive driving as a hobby, his innate talent quickly resulted in many high-placed finishes in national-level races, including taking all three victories in the 1973 televised

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 ...

races at Cadwell Park. On the back of these results he turned professional in 1974, driving Spike Andersons Samuri

Datsun 240Z The Nissan S30, sold in Japan as the Nissan Fairlady Z but badged as the Datsun 240Z, 260Z, and 280Z for export, are 2-seat sports cars and 2+2 GT cars produced by Nissan from 1969 until 1978. The S30 was conceived of by Yutaka Katayama ...

in the British Modified Sports Car Championship. Once again, he won.

British Touring Car Championship

The following year saw Percy enter the

British Touring Car Championship The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), officially known as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by ...

for the first time, a race series that he would come to dominate in the years ahead. His first race in the BTCC would also be the first time he encountered

Tom Walkinshaw Thomas Dobbie Thomson Walkinshaw (14 August 1946 – 12 December 2010) was a British racing car driver from Scotland and the founder of the racing team Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR). He was also involved in professional rugby union, as owner of ...

, after Percy won his class driving a

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

, and also attacked Walkinshaw's Ford Escort in the class above. In 1983, Percy won the

Willhire 24 Hour The Willhire 24 Hour was an endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race for production cars held at Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit in Norfolk, England between 1980 and 1994. Over the years, the race included both sports cars and sedan (car) ...

in a Porsche 928S. He stuck with Toyota for the next four years, until Walkinshaw offered Percy a drive in his

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 ...

-run

Mazda RX-7 The Mazda RX-7 is a front mid engine, Rear-wheel drive, rear-wheel-drive, rotary engine-powered sports car, manufactured and marketed by Mazda from 1978 through 2002 across three generations, all of which incorporated the use of a compact, light ...

for the 1980 season. Percy won the 1980 Championship for TWR, and then went on to repeat the feat in the following year. Owing to a misunderstanding of Walkinshaw's off-beat sense of humour, Percy agreed to move back to Toyota for 1982. He once again won the BTCC crown for the 1982 season in the

Toyota Corolla The is a series of compact cars (formerly Subcompact car, subcompact) manufactured and marketed globally by the Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corporation. Introduced in 1966, the Corolla was the best-selling car worldwide by 1974 and has bee ...

European and World Touring Car Championships

Despite remaining with Toyota during the 1983 BTCC season, Percy maintained his links to TWR with occasional drives in their V12 powered

Jaguar XJS The Jaguar XJ-S (later called XJS) is a luxury car, luxury grand tourer manufactured and marketed by British car manufacturer Jaguar Cars from 1975 to 1996, in coupé, convertible#variations, fixed-profile and full convertible bodystyles. Ther ...

coupé which was proving the car to beat in

Group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived touring cars for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles wer ...

racing, and Walkinshaw managed to tempt him back full-time in 1984. However, rather than a return to the BTCC, TWR entered three of the big Jaguars in the

European Touring Car Championship The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004. In 2005 it was superseded by the World ...

with Percy co-driving the lead car with Walkinshaw. The team won the 1984 ETCC with Walkinshaw also taking the drivers' title while the Walkinshaw, Percy and

Hans Heyer Hans Heyer (; born 16 March 1943) is a German retired racing driver who mainly raced touring cars. He is most commonly known for starting one Formula One World Championship race, the 1977 German Grand Prix, despite failing to qualify. Heyer's t ...

Jaguar won the ETCC's blue riband event, the

Spa 24 Hours The 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by CrowdStrike. History The Spa 24 Hours was conceived by Jules de Their and ...

. The following year after

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

shelved its touring car program to concentrate on racing Sportscars which saw TWR switch to works-backed Rover Vitesse V8s, again competing for the ETCC title. Walkinshaw and Percy this time took joint third in the drivers' championship. Along the way they scored victories in seven of the 500 km rounds: Donington;

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. The village is about south-southwest of Towcester and northeast of Brackley, both accessed via the A43 road, A43 main ...

;

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

;

Vallelunga Vallelunga (Italian for ''long valley'') is a valley, or plateau,Tonino Floris, Marco Spada, ''Pedalando nel Lazio''p. 97 Edizioni Mediterranee, 1996 . near Campagnano di Roma, Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in S ...

;

Nogaro Nogaro (; Gascon: ''Nogaròu'') is a commune in the Gers department, Southwestern France. It is the site of a distillery of Armagnac brandy. Geography The commune is bordered by six other communes: Caupenne-d'Armagnac to the northwest, ...

; the

Österreichring The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport race track in Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring (translation: Austrian Circuit) and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from to . It was later s ...

; and

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

. 1985 also saw the Walkinshaw-Percy partnership in Australia for the first time, in an XJS, for the 1985 Bathurst 1000 where they finished third (the team's third car driven by Australia's John Goss and West German

Armin Hahne Armin Hahne (born 10 September 1955 in Moers, West Germany) is a German racing driver, best known for his exploits in touring car racing. The highpoint of his career was winning both the 1982 and 1983 Spa 24 Hours driving BMW's. Another highlig ...

won the race). Once again, the TWR Vitesse cars were entered for the ETCC in 1986 where Percy finished 2nd in the Drivers' Championship. He had been declared the champion until a month after the championship, when the FIA belatedly applied a rule that each driver's lowest scoring result would be dropped. This gave the championship to

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

driver

Roberto Ravaglia Roberto Ravaglia (born 26 May 1957) is an Italian former racing driver, who currently runs ROAL Motorsport, who operate a Chevrolet operation in the World Touring Car Championship. Before retiring in 1997, he was one of the most successful tourin ...

. However, 1986 also saw TWR running Jaguar's works

Group C Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for Touring car racing, touring cars and ''Group B'' for Grand tourer, GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 (motorspor ...

1 entry for the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, 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 ...

race; Percy was given one of the driving slots. His Jaguar XJR-6 lasted for 10 of the 24 hours, partnered by Gianfranco Brancatelli and

Hurley Haywood Harris Hurley Haywood (born May 4, 1948) is an American former race car driver. Haywood has won multiple events, including five overall victories at the 24 Hours of Daytona, three at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and two at the 12 Hours of Sebring and ...

at the wheel, before a drive-shaft failure dropped the car out of the race from second place. Percy entered Le Mans again the following year, but suffered a major crash when a tyre exploded at approximately on the long

Mulsanne Straight The Mulsanne Straight (, "Straight Line of Les Hunaudières") is the name used in English for a formerly long straight of the Circuit de la Sarthe around which the 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race takes place. Since 1990, the straight is interrup ...

, tearing off the rear bodywork and flipping the car into the air. The wreckage finally came to a halt 600 metres down the road but, despite almost obliterating the vehicle, Percy walked away from the crash with nothing more than a badly battered helmet. With TWR not racing in the 1987 World Touring Car Championship, Percy only drove selected rounds of the series as a driver for hire. This saw him team with fellow Englishman

Andy Rouse Andrew Ernest Rouse (born 2 December 1947) is a British racing driver, most notably in the British Saloon Car Championship. He won the BSCC in 1975, 1983, 1984 and 1985. Andy Rouse is one of the most successful drivers ever to appear in the ...

in a turbo

Ford Sierra The Ford Sierra is a Mid-size car, mid-size/D-segment, large family car manufactured and marketed by Ford of Europe from 1982–1993. It was designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Bob Lutz (businessman), Robert Lutz and Patrick Le Quément, and was noted for ...

as well as Australian team

Roadways Racing Roadways Racing was an Australian motor racing team that competed in Australian Touring Car racing in the 1980s. It also competed in the 1986 European Touring Car Championship. Roadways Racing Roadways Racing’s origins can be traced back to ...

driving a V8

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 ...

with

Allan Grice Allan Maxwell Grice (born 21 October 1942), known to motor-racing fans as "Gricey", is an Australian former racing driver and politician, most famous for twice winning the prestigious Bathurst 1000 (1986 and 1990), and as a privateer driver of ...

, though in his five WTCC races Percy failed to finish each time. Percy contested the 1988

driving a

factory backed In motorsports, a factory-backed racing team or driver is one sponsored by a vehicle manufacturer in official competitions. Definition As motorsport competition is an expensive endeavor, some degree of factory support is desired and often ...

Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R with Allan Grice. The pair, along with Sweden's Anders Olofsson finished 6th in the Spa 24 Hours. In October, Percy and Grice again drove a Roadways Racing

Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV The Holden Commodore (VL) is a mid-size car that was produced by Holden from 1986 to 1988. It was the final iteration of the first generation of the Holden Commodore and included the luxury variant, Holden Calais (VL). Between February 1986 and ...

in the

, though electrical trouble through the race saw them finish in 15th place. He continued to race in national and international competitions with a variety of teams until the end of the decade, winning the 1989

race in an

Eggenberger Motorsport Eggenberger Motorsport was a Swiss motor racing team that competed in the European Touring Car Championship in the 1980s. History In 1982, Eggenberger Motorsport won the 1982 European Touring Car Championship (ETCC) with Umberto Grano and Helmu ...

Ford Sierra RS500 The Ford Sierra RS Cosworth is a high-performance version of the Ford Sierra that was built by Ford Europe from 1986 to 1992. It was the result of a Ford Motorsport project with the purpose of producing an outright winner for Group A racing in ...

Australia

Percy co-drove in the Australasian rounds of the 1987 World Touring Car Championship with Allan Grice in a Holden Commodore VL, and again at the 1988 Bathurst 1000. In 1989, he contested the Australian endurance races with

Perkins Engineering Perkins Engineering was a team contesting the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series, operating as an active racing team between 1986 and 2008. From 2009 onwards, the involvement of Perkins Engineering in the championship was wound back i ...

under the Holden Racing Team name. In

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, at the behest of

Holden Special Vehicles Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) was the officially designated performance vehicle division for Holden. Established in 1987 and based in Clayton, Victoria, the privately owned company modified Holden models such as the standard wheelbase Holden Comm ...

owner Tom Walkinshaw, Percy officially formed the works

Holden Racing Team Walkinshaw Andretti United is an Australian motor racing team based in the Melbourne suburb of Clayton. The team, initially branded as the Holden Racing Team, used to field Holden Commodores in the Supercars Championship before making the swit ...

to contest the

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 ...

. Racing on the largely unfamiliar Australian race tracks, Percy as both team manager and lead driver put in a strong showing against the faster and lighter Ford Sierra RS500s and Nissan Skyline turbos to be the highest placed

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (India), in India ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...

driver, finishing 8th in the series with a best finish being 3rd in at the Lakeside

round Round or rounds may refer to: Mathematics and science * Having no sharp corners, as an ellipse, circle, or sphere * Rounding, reducing the number of significant figures in a number * Round number, ending with one or more zeroes * Round (crypt ...

. This was despite being forced to miss Round 6 of the series at Mallala when he and his wife returned to England following the death of their son in a car accident. Percy and Allan Grice were surprise winners of the 1990 Bathurst 1000 in a Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV, before finishing second in

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

driving the newer

Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV The Holden Commodore (VN) is a full-size car that was produced by Holden from 1988 to 1991. It was the first iteration of the second generation of this Australian made model, which was previously a mid-size car, as well as the first Commodore ...

. As a team manager and lead driver, Percy would claim that his hardest decision was to let Grice drive the final stint of the 1990 Bathurst 1000. Percy, who had injured his shoulder a few weeks prior to Bathurst and felt that veteran Grice was the better choice to drive the final stint. While Percy wanted Grice as his co-driver, team owner Walkinshaw was initially against the idea due to memories of Grice giving the TWR Rovers hell during the 1986 ETCC and only reluctantly let Percy chose his own co-driver. At the end of the 1991 Australian Touring Car season after two years in charge of the Holden Racing Team, Percy and his wife returned to England. After a relatively quiet year in which he did little racing, Percy returned to Australia and the HRT in 1992 to drive the new 1993 spec

Holden VP Commodore The Holden Commodore (VP) is a full-size car that was produced by Holden from 1991 to 1993. It was the second iteration of the second generation of the Commodore. Its range included the luxury variants, Holden Berlina (VP) and Holden Calais (V ...

alongside Grice at both the

Sandown 500 The Sandown 500 (commercially titled Penrite, Penrite Oil Sandown 500) is an annual endurance racing (motorsport), endurance Auto racing, motor race which is staged at the Sandown Raceway, near Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from 1964. The even ...

and the

, finishing 5th outright and first in Class C for the new spec cars at Bathurst. Percy continued to contest the Australian endurance events, driving for the Holden Racing Team in 1993, Wayne Gardner Racing in 1994 and 1995, and John Faulkner Racing in 1997. After 1991 he drove in many series around the world. He contested the 1993 British Touring Car Championship season in a

Nissan Primera The is a Mid-size car, large family car which was produced by the Japanese automaker Nissan from 1990 to 2007, for the markets in Japan and Europe. In Japan, it replaced the Nissan Stanza, Auster/Stanza, and was exclusive to ''Nissan Motor Comp ...

. While acting as team manager in the

Mazda is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima (town), Fuchū, Hiroshima Prefecture, Hiroshima, Japan. The company was founded on January 30, 1920, as Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd. ...

entry for the 1994 BTCC, and chief tester and latterly team manager for Harrier between 1995 and 1997, as a driver he took the Jaguar XJ220's first race win. In the late 1990s he became active on the historic motorsport stage, often driving his

Jaguar D-type The Jaguar D-Type is a sports racing car that was produced by Jaguar Cars Ltd. between 1954 and 1957. Designed specifically to win the Le Mans 24-hour race, it shared the straight-6 XK engine and many mechanical components with its C-Type ...

''XKD 505'' in historic sports car races. In 2002, driving ''XKD 505'', he won all four races at the Le Mans Classic meeting.

Accident

In the summer of 2003, Percy suffered a serious accident in his garden. He was taken to hospital, where a medical error led to him being paralysed from the waist down. He sued the West Dorset General Hospital

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

Trust and received an out of court settlement of £1.55 million in April 2008. No longer able to compete, he is still a regular visitor to motor racing events around Britain.

Career results

Results sourced from Driver Database.

Complete British Saloon / Touring Car Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1973–1990 in class) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded ?–1989 in class) † Events with 2 races staged for the different classes. ‡ Endurance driver. * No points awarded due to lack of car homologation papers.

Complete European 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)

Complete Asia-Pacific Touring Car 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 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete Spa 24 Hour results

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

References

External links

Win Percy's Get Well Soon page

ETCC results and photos.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Percy, Win Living people 1943 births English racing drivers British Touring Car Championship drivers British Touring Car Championship Champions Australian Touring Car Championship drivers Holden people Bathurst 1000 winners 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Supercars Championship drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers European Touring Car Championship drivers Australian Endurance Championship drivers Nismo drivers Jaguar Racing drivers Ecurie Ecosse drivers 20th-century English sportsmen