Career
The son of racing driver Eddie Perkins (winner of the 1955 RedeX Round Australia Trial), Larry developed a love for cars from a young age. After winning the Australian Formula 2 Championship in 1972, Perkins travelled to Europe where he won the 1975 European Formula Three Championship. He also raced in Formula One 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 a Elfin MR8 and the 1979 Australian Rallycross Championship in a Volkswagen Beetle. 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 to race at the Le Mans 24 Hour with Tom Walkinshaw Racing, finishing 4th.
Perkins has won the Bathurst 1000 six times (1982, 1983, 1984, 1993, 1995, 1997), with co drivers such as Peter Brock, Gregg Hansford and in his last two wins, Russell Ingall, winning each time in an Australian developed Holden Commodore V8. Arguably his most memorable win was in the 1995 Tooheys 1000 in which he dropped to last place after a pit stop at the end of the first lap and subsequently gained the lead with less than 10 laps remaining. 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, his best championship results being three fourth places.
Perkins retired from driving in 2003, aged 53 and was inducted into the V8 Supercar 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 "Larrikin Larry". Larry is the father of V8 Supercar driver Jack Perkins.
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