30 years ago – Holden powers Larry all the way
Everyone remembers The Great Race of 1993, which occurred 30 years ago on this day as a landmark event. It was the final time a Holden with a Holden engine won the Bathurst 1000, thanks to the engineering expertise and tactical thinking of Larry Perkins.
He knew his Holden-Holden would have the edge at The Mountain, as others took the easy way into a Chevrolet V8, just as he stuck with traditional wheel nuts until centre-lock systems proved their advantage – LP also ordered two right-hand driving boots for every left – because they wore out faster and it saved him money!
Winning in ’93 also allowed Perkins, a one-time Grand Prix racer who only failed in Formula One because he lacked the poise and polish of his rivals, to step convincingly out of the shadow of Peter Brock.
He and Brock scored a three-peat at Bathurst, but this time Perkins did everything his way to the first of three more wins.
The Auto Action cover documenting how Larry Perkins won Bathurst “his way”.
He also took pole position with a lap that was a half-second clear of Mark Skaife, with Dick Johnson only fifth in the fastest Falcon after a pre-race aero adjustment to the Holden Commodores.
The Perkins package for ’93 included Gregg Hansford, a one-time world-class Kawasaki grand prix motorcycle racer, who had previously guested in Allan Moffat’s cars.
The day before the race, Hansford was put on notice by Wayne Webster – the highly-rated but highly-controversial motoring editor of Sydney’s Daily Telegraph – who said the pair could win the race if he was prepared to be a hard-edged racer and not just a pretty boy.
At the press conference after the finish, the expected showdown between Hansford and Webster failed to fire when the star made a surprising admission.
“I want to thank that guy,” Hansford began, pointing at the scribe … It was typical of the Perkins’ approach to racing, and Hansford’s humility.
The all-new arrangements for Bathurst ’93 marked a significant turning point in touring car racing, although the 47-car field still included a category for small-capacity tiddlers.
Godzilla was gone when the field was formed-up and no-one was mourning its death. Gone, too, were the international regulations – called Group A – which had spawned the Nissan GT-R and a run of other race-bred specials including the Ford Sierra RS500 and BMW M3.
The start of the 1993 Tooheys 1000 with the Perkins Commodore already gapping the field. Image: Supercars/AN1 Media
Instead, Bathurst was back to its Aussie roots with an emphasis on V8-powered homegrown muscle with Holden Commodores – lots of Commodores – and Ford Falcons dominating.
This was the run-up to what has become Supercars racing.
Ford Falcons won seven of the nine races in the Australian Touring Car Championship, which Glenn Seton claimed in his EB – although Jim Richards salvaged something from the final races with wins for his Holden VP Commodore from Gibson Racing.
This was a time when cigarette funding drove most of the top teams, with Winfield against Peter Jackson in a big-money battle at the front, as even the Holden Racing Team ran a relatively low-key program with Tomas Mezera.
Some BMW M3s continued after the Group A cull with smaller engines, as highly-rated internationals Steve Soper and ‘Smokin’ Joe Winklehock joined the locals. The small-capacity class included a de-turboed Sierra in among the hordes of Corollas in Class B.
Although Seton was expected to star, he was one many highly-rated retirements. They included Dick Johnson in a Falcon, Mezera and Win Percy for HRT, Soper and Tony Longhurst in their M3, and even Allan Moffat’s Falcon crewed by Andrew Miedecke and Charlie O’Brien.
So the race was a Commodore-fest, with the Perkins’ car resisting the challenge of second-placed Jim Richards and Mark Skaife, with Wayne ‘Captain Chaos’ Gardner snagging third with the under-rated Brad Jones for HRT.
But there is a post-script to the story of Bathurst 1993. The winning car will be back on track at Mount Panorama as part of the anniversary celebrations this weekend.
The Castrol Commodore has been immaculately and meticulously restored by Larry’s son Jack Perkins, down to the tiniest detail, for a high-profile cameo appearance.
If you’re there, don’t miss it …
| 1993 TOOHEYS 1000 TOP 10 | ||||
| Pos | Drivers | TEAM | Car | margin |
| 1 | Larry Perkins/Gregg Hansford | Castrol Perkins Racing | Holden VP Commodore | 161 |
| 2 | Mark Skaife/Jim Richards | Gibson Motorsport | Holden VP Commodore | 161 |
| 3 | Wayne Gardner/Brad Jones | Holden Racing Team | Holden VP Commodore | 160 |
| 4 | David Brabham/Anders Olofsson | Gibson Motorsport | Holden VP Commodore | 159 |
| 5 | Troy Dunstan/Steve Harrington | Pepsi Quix Racing | Holden VP Commodore | 156 |
| 6 | Geoff Brabham/David Parsons | Peter Jackson Racing | Ford EB Falcon | 154 |
| 7 | Bob Jones/Greg Crick | Ampol Max 3 Racing | Holden VP Commodore | 153 |
| 8 | Paul Radisich/Cameron McConville | Dick Johnson Racing | Ford EB Falcon | 151 |
| 9 | Terry Finnigan/Garry Rogers | Terry Finnigan | Holden VP Commodore | 150 |
| 10 | Bob Pearson/Bruce Stewart/Phil Ward | Pro-Duct Motorsport | Holden VP Commodore | 148 |
Image: Supercars/AN1 Media
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