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21 Oct 2012, 09:03 (Ref:3155296) | #1 | |
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Larry Perkins Exit
AutoAction #1512, carried a great article on Larry Perkins and his career from his open wheeler exploits in F5000 and F1, to sports car racing in Europe through to his ATCC/V8 career.
Not a bad effort for a kid off a farm in western Victoria. |
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21 Oct 2012, 10:01 (Ref:3155320) | #2 | ||
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You mean the Cowangie Kid???
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The good old days sure seem like a long time ago!! |
21 Oct 2012, 12:21 (Ref:3155374) | #3 | ||
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I missed that piece on Larry. Pity, because I have a lot of respect for what he achieved.
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22 Oct 2012, 01:16 (Ref:3155655) | #4 | ||
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He is definitely one of our most accomplished racers. A well-researched and written article would definitely be a compelling read.
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22 Oct 2012, 02:43 (Ref:3155669) | #5 | ||
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I was wondering why Channel 7 haven't made a bit more fuss about as he was one of the instigators of the current format of v8 supercars.
I would have thought some recognition would have been in order. |
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22 Oct 2012, 03:58 (Ref:3155691) | #6 | |||
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Plus - he was one of many that were involved in a similar way. |
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22 Oct 2012, 04:35 (Ref:3155705) | #7 | ||
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Allan Moffat, in Bill Woods' Legends Of Speed, made especial mention of Larry's contribution to the origins of the 5 litre touring car format. While it's fairly certain that Larry's influence was wielded behind the scenes, there's no doubt in Moff's mind that LP was instrumental
Moffat had much earlier done his bit to foster LP's racing career. The tale goes that LP was needing an engine, and was lamenting this to the top professional driver of the day, at his Coca-Cola enclosure. Apparently Moffat wrote a cheque on the spot. LP was not only one of Harry Firth's star apprentices, but almost single-handedly put together his OS campaign - his tie-in with Ron Tauranac was fortuitous, and handed the RT1 and Perkins the inaugural European F3 championship in 1975. By all accounts, LP, his brother, and a mate or two, achieved a lot more than they had any right to, including fronting several F1 races with the Boro. When he came home again, he put together some great cars for The Captain, but his solar car adventure in 1980, in the shadow of Hans Tholstrup - LP engineered and built the thing, and did most of the driving by all accounts. 1984, and Brock's Le Mans campaign, was a homecoming of sorts, with LP garnering much of the Euro publicity surrounding the venture. 1988's trip to Le Mans with TWR was another highlight - LP dragged the car up to 4th, driving much of the night/early morning running, in the rain... His highest-profile local successes were of course, his three wins on The Hill with Castrol Team Perkins. And they were both well-driven and beautifully engineered. They don't make Supercar drivers like that anymore.... |
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A Smith & Wesson beats four aces |
22 Oct 2012, 04:41 (Ref:3155706) | #8 | ||
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22 Oct 2012, 06:17 (Ref:3155719) | #9 | ||
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22 Oct 2012, 06:36 (Ref:3155722) | #10 | ||
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I don't think that is quite correct. Firth didn't single-handedly put together his OS campaign. Larry received a lot of assistance (both monetary and sponsorship) from David McKay (of Scuderia Veloce fame) and Gary Campbell (of Provincial Motors.) Larry's initial trip to Europe in 1972 was funded by his TAA Driver to Europe prize that he deferred from the previous year, when he won the title.
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"She was so assured, so self confident that I found myself attracted at first to her mind rather than her pneumatic come-hither body," David McKay |
22 Oct 2012, 07:06 (Ref:3155732) | #11 | ||
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A great engineer and driver ... perkins enginerring also built all of the formula Holden engines for Birrana and Gibson motorsport ...
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22 Oct 2012, 08:03 (Ref:3155751) | #12 | |||
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Somebody asked if the McLaren F1 was going to be like the Ferrari F40, Gordon Murray replied, "I don't think so, there's no one at McLaren who can weld that badly." |
22 Oct 2012, 21:56 (Ref:3156084) | #13 | |
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Does Larry still own the rights to the name 'Australian Touring Car Championship' ?? Or did he sell it to V8Supercars ???
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'Son, when you participate in sporthing events, it's not whether you win or lose... it's how drunk you get.' Homer J Simpson. |
22 Oct 2012, 22:09 (Ref:3156093) | #14 | |||
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23 Oct 2012, 02:37 (Ref:3156211) | #15 | ||
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I'd much rather hear Larry, nasal drawl and all, on the V8 coverage rather than Mark Skaife. Oh well....
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13 Nov 2012, 08:44 (Ref:3165791) | #16 | |
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When did Larry start up his engineering business, while being Brock's co-driver or after Brocky discovered the polariser?
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13 Nov 2012, 13:47 (Ref:3165884) | #17 | |
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13 Nov 2012, 15:37 (Ref:3165920) | #18 | ||
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Larry Perkins -
Who in the words of Alan Docking is a man who one cannot "root, shoot or electrocute!" |
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Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Perkins, Larry | Chatters | The Driver Files | 12 | 2 Nov 2009 19:13 |
Larry Perkins vs. Paul Dumbrell | lookleft | Australasian Touring Cars. | 34 | 12 Oct 2005 11:20 |
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Larry Perkins Broke?!?! | Vandas | Australasian Touring Cars. | 4 | 16 Aug 2001 10:55 |
Larry Perkins | marcus | Touring Car Racing | 13 | 17 Nov 2000 20:55 |