Perkins Engineering

At the end of 1988, Perkins and Hulme went on to stage a one-two victory in the Group A support race at the 1988 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide in November. After the leading Dick Johnson Racing Sierras of Johnson and John Bowe suffered fuel pick-up problems, Perkins and Hulme had a fairly comfortable second half of the race. 1990s The Moffat/ANZ rumors did not come to fruition, and the team built a new plain white VL Commodore SS Group A SV for the 1990 season. Aside from some minor sponsorship from longtime supporters such as Castrol, the car's main "sponsor" was "Perkins Engineering", and it ran the entire 1990 season this way. A few other minor sponsors were picked up for the endurance races, where Tomas Mezera co-drove. After a good showing at the 1990 Sandown 500, the pair pulled off a third-place finish at Bathurst after narrowly missing the win after a safety-car mix-up when Perkins was held up in pit lane (the win went to the HRT Commodore of Allan Grice and Win Percy). The pair picked up a win a few weeks later at the newly opened Eastern Creek Raceway in the 1990 Nissan Sydney 500. Perkins showed the speed he was getting out of the now two-year-old model Commodore by qualifying the car second behind the Nissan GT-R and in front of the leading Sierras. In 1991, Perkins entered a deal that saw Peter Brock close his Mobil 1 Racing team and bring sponsorship to Perkins Engineering to race two VN Commodores. Early results were slim, and despite some mechanical issues, Perkins and Brock generally became the fastest of the Holdens on track during the 1991 Australian Touring Car Championship and into the late season endurance races. While Brock would finish the championship in 6th place, Perkins could only manage 11th. The team's biggest problem was the lack of quality Bridgestone rubber early in the season. The 1991 Bathurst 1000 saw little joy for the team, though both cars easily qualified in the top 10. After a race plagued by electrical issues, the Brock/Andrew Miedecke car finished 7th while the Perkins/Mezera car retired after 65 laps with no oil pressure. Perkins would later attribute his personal lack of success in 1991 to the contract with Brock's team and sponsor Mobil, claiming that the contract actually prevented him from finishing in front of Brock on the race track. At the end of 1991, Brock and Perkins decided to go their separate way which saw the two VN Commodores sold to Brock's Advantage Racing. Perkins Engineering ran a pair of Holden VZ Commodores for 2006, again for Richards (now in #7) and Dumbrell (#11). Richards and Dumbrell again teamed up for Bathurst, finishing fifth in the No. 7 Jack Daniel's Commodore, while Jack Perkins and Shane Price shared the No. 11 car into a DNF, after Perkins, who had started the race, heavily shunted a disabled Mark Skaife over the crest of the hill in Mountain Straight. Even though it was not his fault, Perkins later apologized to Skaife. At the end of the 2006 season, both Richards and Dumbrell announced that they were leaving the team. Richards moved to Ford Performance Racing, and Dumbrell to Paul Weel Racing. The late blow left the team out of the market for any recognised, top line driver, so Jack Perkins and Shane Price were promoted from the Fujitsu Series, to run in the main championship. Price and Perkins, even though they had some good runs on tracks they knew well, ended up with results that were a bit of a letdown overall. Rumours amongst the fans that Jack Daniel's were not pleased with the lack of results, saw both Jack Daniel's and the publicly endorse both drivers as "the future". Mark Skaife briefly tested one of the cars at a Winton test session to help Perkins and Price with the cars ongoing development. Perkins continued to race until just before the Symmons Plains round, having just been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, with Marcus Marshall, who had driven for the team at Sandown and Bathurst, replacing him for the final two rounds of the season. Upon losing Perkins, the team signed former HRT driver Todd Kelly for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. ==Demise==

Following a decision by Holden to reduce support for most teams running their Commodore product in the series for 2009, at the end of the 2008 V8 Supercar season, team principal Larry Perkins chose to reduce the level of his involvement in the series. Perkins entered into a business relationship with John and Margaret Kelly whose son Todd drove for the team in 2008, to provide the engineering services for their newly formed Kelly Racing. Many Perkins Engineering staff, equipment and sponsors moved to Kelly Racing including the team's three VE Commodores and Jack Daniels. The Perkins Engineering franchises were retained by Larry who was the entrant for Kelly Racing's third and fourth cars. As part of the deal Perkins Engineering completed two final VE Commodores for Kelly Racing. Gradually Kelly Racing built up its own engineering base and its dependency on Perkins Engineering reduced. In January 2013 Larry sold his franchises to Kelly Racing and vacated the Moorabbin workshop. ==Racing Number 11==

Iconic number The racing number 11 has become synonymous with the team, and it has appeared on their racing cars in every season since 1986. It has become as significant in Australian motor sport, as has Peter Brock's number "05" and Dick Johnson's number "17". Legend has it that Perkins chose the number 11 for his car because "it's really easy to carry spare stickers – I only have to get the printers to make me up a box full of 1's". This simple, no nonsense approach is typical of almost everything that Larry does. Almost Lost At the start of the 2005 season, Perkins Engineering almost lost the use of the racing number 11. At the end of the previous season, Larry sold his two Level 1 racing licences to Craig Gore, and purchased a single Level 2 licence, and leased a second from Bap Romano. Racing numbers are attached to the licences, not the teams who use them, and Gore's WPS Racing was ready to use the No. 11 and No. 8 from the old Perkins-held licences. Perkins fans were incensed, and many were vocal about the return of No. 11 to its "rightful" home. Perkins, along with then sponsor, Castrol, approached Gore and V8 Supercars Australia to have the numbers returned. While Gore kept No. 8, he allowed the return of No. 11 to Perkins Engineering. The team ran No. 11 and No. 24 (the number associated with the Romano licence), and the fans were appeased. Carrying On Into Future Following the effective closure of the team at the end of 2008, the franchise licences owned by Larry Perkins were leased into the new Kelly Racing team for 2009. His son Jack also took up one of the drives at the new team, using one of the Perkins owned licences, and will continue the family association with racing number No. 11. Other Numbers Used The team has used various other number for second and third cars in the team over the years, details of many of these below: • 1988 – #10 was used at Sandown, Bathurst and Adelaide, #20, and #40 (spare car) were used at Bathurst only. #11 was not used at Bathurst, but used in all other races. • 1989 – #7 and #16 were used at Sandown, Bathurst, and Adelaide. #11 used in all other races. • 1991 – #05 was used when Peter Brock and Perkins Engineering teamed up for Brock's return to Holden. Perkins own car used No. 11 all season. • 1995 – No. 9 was used by Gregg Hansford at Eastern Creek, and No. 12 by Greg Crick at Sandown and Symmons Plains • 1996 until 2004 – No. 8 was used by Russell Ingall, and Paul Dumbrell. • 1997 and 1998 – No. 16 was used by Melinda Price and Kerryn Brewer. • 1999 – No. 19 was used by Wayne Gardner. • 2002 – No. 16 was used by Steven Richards. • 2004 & 2006 – 2008. – No. 7 has been used by Tony Longhurst, Alex Davison, Paul Dumbrell, Steven Richards, Shane Price, and Todd Kelly. • 2005 – No. 24 was used by Paul Dumbrell and Steven Richards. ==Bathurst Victories==

Perkins Engineering has won the classic Bathurst 1000 race a total of three times – in 1993, 1995, and 1997. Perkins himself drove in all three victories, co-driving with Gregg Hansford in 1993, and Russell Ingall in 1995, and 1997. Cars built and driven by Perkins also won Bathurst in 1982, 1983, and 1984, while he was employed as chief engineer for the Holden Dealer Team. 1993 – Speed • Larry Perkins/Gregg Hansford, Castrol Commodore VP No. 11 The team's 1993 Bathurst victory was all about speed. The No. 11 Castrol Holden VP Commodore was clearly the fastest car all week, topping every practice and qualifying session, except the first practice session, in which the car placed second. The race was a race in three, between Perkins and Hansford, Mark Skaife and Jim Richards in a Winfield sponsored Commodore, and Tomas Mezera and Win Percy in a Holden Racing Team Commodore. When Percy crashed the No. 15 car after a throttle jammed, the race was a straight fight between Perkins/Hansford and the Skaife/Richards car. The outright speed of the Perkins car saw the team home, despite a late race flurry of rain, which made tyre selection into a lottery. The speed of the Castrol Commodore surprised many as Perkins chose to run a Holden V8 engine rather than the more powerful Chevrolet V8 used by the other leading Holden teams (Brock, Gibson Motorsport and HRT). Perkins claimed using the Holden engine was purely down to cost against the more expensive Chev as he had many of the well developed Holdens at his team base. He also claimed to get better fuel consumption from the Holden, and with only a small difference in power and a superior set up, he was able to run ahead of all but the Richards/Skaife Winfield Commodore all weekend. Following his Bathurst win, Perkins was forced by CAMS to race the Chevy V8 the following year. 1995 – Determination • Larry Perkins/Russell Ingall, Castrol Commodore VR No. 11 While not the fastest car all week, the No. 11 Castrol Holden VR Commodore was close to the front in most sessions, and the race looked like being a battle between Wayne Gardner, Craig Lowndes, Glenn Seton and the Perkins car. At the start, a minor collision between Perkins and Lowndes saw the tyre valve from Perkins front right wheel torn off, resulting in the deflation of the tyre, and a slow lap back around to the pits. After replacing the tyre, and checking for other damage, Perkins roared down pit lane, trying to stay on the lead lap, a feat he accomplished. The car stayed on the lead lap, until a minor safety-car hiccup saw it go down a lap, and seemingly out of race contention. New co-driver Russell Ingall was told by the team to not worry about the car, and just push 110% for the rest of the day – to spare nothing. When the leading Richards/Skaife Commodore retired with a failed diff, Ingall scrambled the car back onto the lead lap. Between them, Perkins and Ingall spent the rest of the race gradually whittling back the gap to the leaders. Following a late race safety-car intervention, Perkins (who had just returned to the car), found himself in sixth place, and only about 10 seconds behind the leader, Glenn Seton. Following the exit of the safety car, Perkins picked off all the cars ahead of him over the next three laps, with the exception of Seton, who had responded to Larry's charge, and started turning similar lap times. Seton seemed set for victory. However, with nine laps remaining, the extra strain Seton was putting through his already tiring engine proved to be too much – a broken valve spring forcing the car into retirement, and leaving Perkins in front for his team's second Bathurst crown, and his fifth as a driver. 1997 – Reliability • Larry Perkins/Russell Ingall, Castrol Commodore VS No. 11 Racing cars built by Perkins Engineering have been noted for their reliability. During the 1997 event, the Perkins Engineering car was one of the fastest for much of the week. The Brock/Skaife Holden Racing Team car, the Greg Murphy/Lowndes Holden Racing Team car, the Gardner/Crompton Coca-Cola car, and the Alan Jones/Jason Bright/Scott Pruett Komatsu car were also strong contenders. However, one by one, these cars fell by the wayside. Craig Lowndes crashed the No. 15 car out at McPhillamy Park, the No. 05 car suffered an engine failure with Skaife at the wheel, Gardner blew an engine at Forrest Elbow, and Jones had a string of mechanical dramas. The only hiccup for the Perkins Engineering car was a run across the dirt by Ingall at the bottom of The Chase, after a fuel surge at the end of his stint, caused the engine to stall. It was a clear victory for reliability.– ==Driver Roll Call==

The following is a list of drivers who have competed in Perkins Engineering built/entered vehicles in top-level Touring Car/V8 Supercar events: • Larry Perkins (1986 to 2003) • David Parsons (1986 to 1987) • Denny Hulme (1987 to 1988) • Jeff Allam (1988) – as part of Holden Special Vehicles team, later known as Holden Racing Team • Armin Hahne (1988) – as part of Holden Special Vehicles team, later known as Holden Racing Team • Tom Walkinshaw (1988) – as part of Holden Special Vehicles team, later known as Holden Racing Team • Andy Wallace (1988) – as part of Holden Special Vehicles team, later known as Holden Racing Team • Tomas Mezera (1989 to 1991, 2003–2004) – as part of Holden Racing Team / Perkins Engineering arrangement (1989 only) • Win Percy (1989) – as part of Holden Racing Team / Perkins Engineering arrangement • Neil Crompton (1989) – as part of Holden Racing Team / Perkins Engineering arrangement • Steve Harrington (1989, 1992) – as part of Holden Racing Team / Perkins Engineering arrangement (1989 only) • Peter Brock (1991) – as part of Advantage Racing / Perkins Engineering arrangement • Andrew Miedecke (1991) – as part of Advantage Racing / Perkins Engineering arrangement • Gregg Hansford (1993 to 1995) • Greg Crick (1995) – once off appearance at Sandown ATCC round with view to vehicle purchase • Russell Ingall (1995 to 2002) • Melinda Price (1997 and 1998) – "Castrol Cougars" program • Kerryn Brewer (1997 and 1998) – "Castrol Cougars" program • Wayne Gardner (1999) • David Brabham (1999) • Christian Murchison (2000) • Luke Youlden (2000 to 2001) • Adam Macrow (2001) • Paul Dumbrell (2002 to 2006) • Steven Richards (2002 to 2006) • Tony Longhurst (2004) • Anthony Tratt (2004) • Jamie Whincup (2004) • Alex Davison (2004) • Jim Richards (2004) • Matthew Coleman (2005) • Christian D'Agostin (2005) • Jack Perkins (2006 to 2008) • Shane Price (2006 to 2008) • Marcus Marshall (2007) • Kayne Scott (2007) • Todd Kelly (2008) • Nathan Pretty (2008) ==Super2 Drivers ==

• Alex Davison (2004) • Shane Price (2006) • Jack Perkins (2006) ==References==