V8SC: Perkins leaves V8s

Six-time Bathurst winner Larry Perkins will have no formal involvement with V8 Supercar racing if negotiations to sell his two V8 Supercar licences to Kelly Racing are successful.

Perkins has been involved in Australian touring car racing on and off since the late 1970s, and a fixture in Group 3A/V8 Supercar racing as a driver, team owner, constructor and supplier since its 1993 inception. The sale negotiations were confirmed to motoring.com.au by Kelly Racing boss John Crennan.

“The Larry-Kelly journey has been a very good one,” said Crennan. “The relationship does have one more year to run, but we are currently in discussion to shorten that arrangement by one year and those discussions are ongoing.”

Perkins also confirmed negotiations were underway to sell the RECs at the end of this season. He said the Kellys had first right of refusal, but that he had discussed their sale with other possible buyers too. Perkins said he had no issues with the ending of his formal relationship with the V8s: “It’s just another stage, just like ending racing was a stage and handing over race preparation to the Kellys was another stage.”

For the last four years his Perkins Engineering licenses – or Racing Entitlements Contracts (REC) - have underpinned two of the four cars that have contested the V8 Supercar championship under the Kelly Racing banner. Perkins has also acted as a supplier to Kelly Racing, although that relationship has gradually been wound back as more and more aspects of the business transferred from his Moorabbin shop to the state-of-the-art Kelly set-up in Braeside.

Perkins’ RECs currently underpin the Holden Commodores driven by Greg Murphy and Karl Reindler. Next year they will support – unless negotiations hit some unexpected hitch –  two of the four Nissan Motorsport Altimas that will debut in the championship, although who will drive and sponsor them remains to be seen.

The other two RECs used by Kelly Racing are owned by the Kelly family – parents John and Marg and sons Todd and Rick, who will race the other two Altimas in Jack Daniel’s colours. If the negotiations between Kelly Racing and Perkins are successful and the V8 Supercar Commission approves the transfer, the impact of the change will be minimal - except to Perkins’ bank account, which should be bolstered by up to $3 million.

But it will mark the passing from official involvement in the championship of one of its most colourful, controversial and divisive characters. After racing in F1 in the mid-1970s he won Bathurst with Peter Brock and the Marlboro Holden Team three times and then three more times in his own Holden team with the late Gregg Hansford (1993) and Russell Ingall (1995, 1997).

While Bathurst was always his priority, Perkins finished fourth three times in the Australian Touring Car Championship.

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