1984 LARRY PERKINS and PETER BROCK Return to Le Mans

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Given Australian motor sport fan’s love of endurance racing, you would have thought that the results achieved by Aussie drivers at The 24 hours of Le Mans would resonate more with local fans. After all, Aussies have won the event outright twice, with Vern Schuppan winning in a Rothmans Porsche 956 in 1983 and Geoff Brabham taking victory ten years later in a Peugeot 905 Evo.

Back in 1984 arguably Australias most loved racing driver, Peter Brock, teamed up with Larry Perkins for the first ever all Australian driver pairing at Le Mans. Called Team Australia and backed by Bob Jane T Marts , Brock and Perkins were looking to spring a surprise.

brock lemansAfter bringing the car up through the star studded field to eighth, Perkins crashed heavily due to a non genuine rocker arm failing on the Mulsanne straight at 350km/h. After 18 hours and 145 laps it was all over and Brocky was distraught.

Legend has it that Brock could not forgive Perkins, who was running up to 4 seconds a lap quicker than him and the relationship between was never the same again. For an in depth story of The Team Australia Le Mans 24 hour campaign, check the full article at Wheels Magazine from 1984.
Of course not long after this Brocky went completely nuts and many observers believe the Le Mans campaign was a major turning point in his downfall. Less than 3 years after the race Brock had split from Holden after 18 years largely due to the “Energy Polarizer” which he came up with under the spell of Dr Eric Dowker. http://www.motorsportretro.com/2008/1...