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Originally Posted by Holden308
I believe the reason that Perkins didn't race at the AGP in 1989 was purely Tom Walkinshaw. The pair really didn't get along, only working together for convenience sake. When HSV started there were really only 2 top Holden teams to choose from to run any factory outfit. Roadways and Perkins and Tom had no love for Roadways or Gricey after the 1986 ETCC and that left Perkins by default. Perkins was logical though as he had previous factory links via the HDT. Tom as HSV owner and effectively the HRT team owner (even though the HRT was contracted to Perkins Engineering) basically told Larry he couldn't race in Adelaide, that he wanted Percy and Crompton in the cars. It left an understandably angry Perkins out of a drive in his own team. It effectively saw the end of the road for the uneasy relationship between TWR and Perkins Engineering.
Tom Walkinshaw had this unwritten rule that senior TWR management (other than himself) could not take part in dangerous activities. One of those dangerous activities was being a race car driver. He made the odd exception such as Win Percy having the dual role of HRT team manager and lead driver in 1990-91, but for the most part he stuck to it. This rule almost cost John Harvey a drive at Bathurst in 1988. After Harves turned down a drive in the #40 HSV Team car (he had played #2 to Brock for 10 years and wasn't about to play #3. His co-driver was to be Percy from what I have read), Uncle Tom invoked his dangerous activities rule on Harves who at the time was (I think) HSV's marketing manager. It was only intense lobbying by Harves that saw Walkinshaw finally relent and allow him to drive the Bob Forbes Commodore with Kevin Bartlett. As it was I believe it turned out to be Harvey's last ever race as he retired from driving soon after. It was also Walkinshaw's final race as well I think.
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While i don't doubt that Perkins and Walkinshaw had an uneasy relationship, and the TWR 'unwritten rule' does seem to add up (although any deal with Perkins would have been done knowing full well he was still an active driver), are we sure that the reason Perkins didn't drive at the 1989 AGP really wasn't just simply the fact that there were not enough cars?
Percy and Crompton were signed as the factory drivers for 1989 and were originally supposed to do the full ATCC, they were even entered for Amaroo. Perkins Engineering's deal to run the HRT team at the end of 1989 probably included ensuring that Percy and Crompton were part of the driving line up, so when they only had 2 cars available for the AGP, those two drivers had to get priority.
From what i've read the original intention at Bathurst 1988 was always to run the #40 car and Percy was going to be one of the drivers, but then Nissan Europe decided to send the #23 ETCC Nissan down to Bathurst and Percy was one of the contracted drivers along with Grice, so the #40 was effectively left as the spare. Then at the last minute Nissan Europe decided not to send the ETCC Nissan to Bathurst leaving Percy and Grice in the lurch. Percy tried to get the #40 car happening again, while Grice went about putting together a deal for the #2 Roadways/ICL Commodore (at times the likes of Ravaglia and Pirro were linked as co-drivers in this car) that was originally meant to be a spare for the #33 Rogers/Andretti entry. In the end Grice and Percy teamed up in the #2 Commodore with sponsorship from FAI, a deal helped put together through Grice's insurance broker.
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Originally Posted by DAVID PATERSON
I paid $80 for it. I paid $150 for 1992, but 1991 is over $300 and 1990 is over $400. I won't be getting those two...
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My copy of "The Great Race 1990/91" book that I was given as a kid had about 10 pages in the middle repeated.... as a kid i found it funny, now i find it annoying, it meant ten pages in the middle are effectively missing