Larry Perkins is a racing driver from Australia who last raced in Formula 1 for Surtees. Perkins has recorded 0 wins and 0 podiums from 11 starts.[1]
A Racer Rating of 4,378 ranks Perkins 783th of 15,348 indexed drivers, on an Elo scale where the strongest reach the low five figures. It is built from every indexed race in the driver's file, decayed for time since their last race.
| 1977-06-05 | Zolder | P12 | +47 |
| 1977-03-05 | Kyalami | P15 | −6 |
| 1977-01-23 | Autódromo José Carlos Pace | DNF | −119 |
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Podiums | DNFs | Poles | Points | Pos | Gain/Loss | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | ▸Formula 1 | Surtees | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | P22 | −78 | 4,378 |
| 1976 | ▸Formula 1 | Brabham-Alfa Romeo | 8 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | P21 | −344 | 4,456 |
| Rival | Rating | Raced | Ahead | Behind | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇦🇹 Niki Lauda | 5,364 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% |
| 🇨🇭 Clay Regazzoni | 5,253 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0% |
| 🇦🇺 Alan Jones | 4,943 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0% |
| 🇬🇧 James Hunt | 4,930 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0% |
| 🇸🇪 Gunnar Nilsson | 4,734 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0% |
| 🇿🇦 Jody Scheckter | 5,599 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0% |
| 🇬🇧 John Watson | 5,367 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0% |
| 🇬🇧 Tom Pryce | 5,114 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 33% |
| 🇩🇪 Jochen Mass | 5,075 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0% |
| 🇫🇷 Patrick Depailler | 5,068 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0% |
Larry Perkins competed in Formula 1 across two seasons, 1976 and 1977, accumulating 11 starts for Surtees without recording a win or podium finish. His average finishing position of thirteenth reflects the calibre of opposition he faced; his regular competitors included three drivers who would become world champions in Niki Lauda, James Hunt, and Alan Jones, as well as established front-runners such as Jody Scheckter, Clay Regazzoni, and Gunnar Nilsson. Against this field, Perkins finished ahead of none of these frequent rivals across their shared races, although he did beat mid-field professionals including Tom Pryce, Michel Leclère, Guy Edwards, and David Purley on individual occasions. His Racer Rating of 4,378 places him in the upper tier of professional racing, a standing consistent with sustained employment in a top-level single-seater series despite the competitive deficit to his peers.[1]
Perkins' F1 career ended after 1977, his final recorded activity being three races that season in which he finished twenty-second. The Surtees team he drove for, which fielded only two drivers during his tenure, produced no race wins; Brian Henton, the team's other driver, held a considerably stronger rating. While Perkins' time in Formula 1 was brief and unfruitful by championship standards, his subsequent career in Australian motorsport proved substantially more successful, including victory in the Bathurst 1000; the significance of that later work is reflected in the enduring legacy of the Larry Perkins Trophy and the historical status of his race-winning machinery among collectors.[2]