Win Percy

Winston Walter Frederick Lawrence Percy (born 28 September 1943) is a British former motor racing driver. Percy was British Touring Car Champion three times.

Early years Percy was born on 28 September 1943 in Tolpuddle, England, he trained as a motor mechanic. He found his way into motor sport through his first employment as a motor mechanic at his local garage. His first race was in 1964, in a local time-trial event driving his own road-going Ford Anglia 1200. He won, beating drivers of far more powerful cars in the process.

While he initially pursued competitive driving as a hobby, Percy's innate talent quickly resulted in many high-placed finishes in national-level races, including taking all three victories in the 1973 televised rallycross races at Cadwell Park. On the back of these results he turned professional in 1974, driving Spike Andersons Samuri Datsun 240Z in the British Modified Sports Car Championship. Once again, he won.

British Touring Car Championship The following year saw Percy enter the British Touring Car Championship for the first time, a race series that he would come to dominate in the years ahead. His first race in the BTCC would also be the first time he encountered Tom Walkinshaw, after Percy won his class driving a Toyota, and also attacked Walkinshaw's Ford Escort in the class above. In 1983, Percy won the Willhire 24 Hour in a Porsche 928S.

Once again, the TWR Vitesse cars were entered for the ETCC in 1986 where Percy finished second in the drivers' championship. He had been declared the champion until a month after the championship, when the FIA belatedly applied a rule that each driver's lowest scoring result would be dropped. This gave the championship to Schnitzer Motorsport driver Roberto Ravaglia. However, In 1986 Percy drove a TWR Jaguar XJR-6 Group C1 with Gianfranco Brancatelli and Hurley Haywood in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Percy entered Le Mans again the following year, but suffered a major crash when a tyre exploded at approximately on the long Mulsanne Straight, tearing off the rear bodywork and flipping the car into the air. The wreckage finally came to a halt 600 metres down the road but, despite almost obliterating the vehicle, Percy walked away from the crash with nothing more than a badly battered helmet.

With TWR not racing in the 1987 World Touring Car Championship, Percy only drove selected rounds of the series as a driver for hire. This saw him team with fellow Englishman Andy Rouse in a Ford Sierra RS500.

Percy contested the 1988 European Touring Car Championship driving a factory backed Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R with Allan Grice.

Percy continued to race in national and international competitions with a variety of teams until the end of the decade, winning the 1989 Spa 24 Hours race in an Eggenberger Motorsport Ford Sierra RS500.

After 1991, Percy drove in many series around the world. He contested the 1993 British Touring Car Championship in a Nissan Primera. While acting as team manager in the Mazda entry for the 1994 BTCC, and chief tester and latterly team manager for Harrier between 1995 and 1997, as a driver he took the Jaguar XJ220's first race win.

In the late 1990s, Percy became active on the historic motorsport stage, often driving his Jaguar D-type in historic sports car races. In 2002 he won all four races at the Le Mans Classic meeting.

Australia

Percy co-drove in the Australasian rounds of the 1987 World Touring Car Championship with Allan Grice in a Roadways Racing Holden Commodore VL, and again at the 1988 Bathurst 1000. In 1989, he contested the Australian endurance races with Perkins Engineering under the Holden Racing Team name.

In 1990, Percy established the Holden Racing Team for Tom Walkinshaw to contest the 1990 Australian Touring Car Championship fulfilling the dual roles of team manager and lead driver.

Percy and Grice were surprise winners of the 1990 Bathurst 1000 in a Holden Commodore VL, before finishing second in 1991 driving the newer Holden Commodore VN. After a relatively quiet year in which he did little racing, Percy returned to Australia and the HRT in 1992 to drive a Holden Commodore VP alongside Grice at both the Sandown 500 and the Bathurst 1000, finishing fifth outright and first in Class C for the new spec cars at Bathurst.

Percy continued to contest the Australian endurance events, driving for the Holden Racing Team in 1993, Wayne Gardner Racing in 1994 and 1995, and John Faulkner Racing in 1997.

Accident In the summer of 2003, Percy suffered a serious accident in his garden. He was taken to hospital, where a medical error led to him being paralysed from the waist down. He sued the West Dorset General Hospital National Health Service Trust and received an out of court settlement of £1.55 million in April 2008. No longer able to compete, he is still a regular visitor to motor racing events around Britain. In 2013 he suffered a heart attack.

Career results Results sourced from Driver Database.

Complete British Saloon / Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1973–1990 in class) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded ?–1989 in class)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 DC Pts Class 1975 Samuri Racing withToyota GB Toyota Celica GT MALovr:6†cls:1† BRHDNS OULovr:3†cls:1† THRovr:12cls:1 SILovr:17cls:1 BRHovr:10†cls:4† THRovr:?cls:1 SILovr:?†cls:1† MALovr:4†cls:2† SNERet SILovr:?cls:1 INGovr:1†cls:1† BRHovr:?†cls:1† OULRet BRHovr:?cls:1 2nd 78 1st 1976 Samuri Racing withToyota GB Toyota Celica GT BRHovr:7cls:1 SILovr:10cls:1 OULovr:?†cls:1† THRovr:7cls:1 THRovr:?cls:1 SILovr:?cls:1 BRHRet MALovr:1†cls:1† SNEovr:1†cls:1† BRHovr:9cls:1 2nd 81 1st 1977 Samuri Racing withBradshaw Plant Hire Ford Capri II 3.0s SILDNS BRHRet OULovr:7†cls:6† THRovr:4cls:4 SILovr:7cls:7 THRRet DONovr:11†cls:8† SILRet DONovr:4†cls:3† BRH THR BRHovr:?cls:? 23rd 3 8th 1978 Way Valley RacingBradshaw Plant Hire Toyota Celica GT SIL OUL THR BRHovr:2†cls:2† SILovr:2†cls:2† DONovr:3†cls:2† MALovr:2†cls:2† BRHovr:12cls:2 DONovr:2†cls:2† BRHovr:?cls:1 THRovr:?cls:? OULovr:2†cls:2† 6th 56 ? Triumph Dolomite Sprint MALovr:8†cls:2† OULovr:10†cls:4† ? ? Toleman Group Motorsport BMW 530i DONRet† ? ? 1979 Team Toyota GBHughes of Beaconsfield Toyota Celica GT SILovr:?cls:3 OULRet THRovr:15cls:2 SILovr:14cls:1 DONovr:?cls:1 SILDSQ MALovr:1†cls:1† DONovr:?cls:2 BRHovr:?cls:2 THRovr:9cls:2 SNEovr:6cls:1 OULovr:2†cls:2† 5th 70 2nd 1980 TWR Pentax Mazda RX-7 MALovr:4†cls:1† OULovr:6†cls:1† THRovr:3cls:1 SILovr:7cls:1 SILovr:3cls:1 BRHovr:7cls:1 MALovr:7†cls:1† BRHovr:7cls:1 THRovr:6cls:1 SILovr:6cls:1 1st 90 1st 1981 Mazda Motorsport Mazda RX-7 MALovr:2†cls:1† SILRet OULovr:1†cls:1† THRovr:4cls:1 BRHovr:2†cls:1† SILovr:4cls:1 SILovr:4cls:1 DONovr:1†cls:1† BRHovr:2cls:1 THRovr:2cls:1 SIL 1st 78 1st 1982 Team Toyota GBHughes of Beaconsfield Toyota Corolla GT SILovr:7cls:1 MALovr:1†cls:1† OULovr:1†cls:1† THRovr:7cls:1 THRovr:8cls:1 SILovr:10cls:1 DONovr:6cls:1 BRHovr:8cls:1 DONovr:6cls:1 BRHovr:4cls:1 SILovr:9cls:1 1st 90 1st 1983 Team Toyota GBHughes of Beaconsfield Toyota Corolla GT SILovr:6cls:1 OUL THR 17th 9 9th Toyota Celica Supra BRHovr:8*cls:4* THRDNS SIL DON SILovr:6cls:6 DONovr:3cls:3 BRHRet SILRet 21st 5 6th 1984 Team Toyota GBHughes of Beaconsfield Toyota Celica Supra DONovr:6cls:6 SIL OULovr:4cls:4 THRRet THRRet SIL SNE BRHRet BRHovr:1cls:1 DONovr:2cls:2 SILovr:2cls:2 12th 27 3rd 1987 Andy Rouse Engineering Ford Sierra RS Cosworth SIL OUL THR THR SIL SILovr:1cls:1 BRH SNE DON 22nd 10 10th Listerine Racing Team Ford Sierra RS500 OULRet‡ DON SIL 1988 Nissan Motorsport Europe Nissan HR31 Skyline GTS-R SIL OUL THR DONovr:4cls:4 THR SIL SIL BRH SNE BRH BIR DON SIL 43rd 4 17th 1989 Andy Rouse Engineering Ford Sierra RS500 OUL SIL THR DONRet‡ THR SIL SIL BRH SNE BRH BIR DON SIL NC 0 NC 1993 Janspeed Nissan Primera eGT SIL7 DONRet SNE8 DON11 OUL BRH15 BRH24 PEM9 SIL2 KNO1DNS KNO2DNS OUL18 BRH11 THRRet DON110 DON27 SILRet 12th 38

† Events with 2 races staged for the different classes.

‡ Endurance driver.

No points awarded due to lack of car homologation papers.

Complete European Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete World Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Points 1987 Andy Rouse Engineering Ford Sierra RS Cosworth MNZ JAR DIJ NUR SPA BNO NC 0 Ford Sierra RS500 SIL Roadways Racing Holden Commodore VL BAT CLD WEL FJI

Complete Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 DC Points 1988 Roadways Racing Holden Commodore VL SS Group A SV BAT15 WELRet PUKRet FJI NC 0

Complete Australian Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DC Points 1990 Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VL SS Group A SV AMA SYM PHI WIN LAK MAL WAN ORA 8th 32 1991 Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VN SAN SYM WAN LAK WIN AMA MAL LAK ORA 8th 30

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete Spa 24 Hour results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Overallposition Classposition 1979 Equipe Esso Vince Woodman Jonathan Buncombe Ford Capri III 3.0S +2500 NA DNF DNF 1980 Tom Walkinshaw Racing Pete Lovett Mazda RX-7 -2500 347 DNF DNF 1981 Tom Walkinshaw Racing Marc Duez Jeff Allam Chuck Nicholson Mazda RX-7 -2500 445 4th 1st 1982 Tom Walkinshaw Racing Tom Walkinshaw Chuck Nicholson Jaguar XJS Div. 3 NA DNF DNF 1983 Tom Walkinshaw Racing Martin Brundle Enzo Calderari Jaguar XJS Div. 3 NA DNF DNF 1984 Tom Walkinshaw Racing Tom Walkinshaw Hans Heyer Jaguar XJS Div. 3 453 1st 1st 1985 Tom Walkinshaw Racing Tom Walkinshaw Hans Heyer Rover Vitesse Div. 3 86 DNF DNF 1986 Tom Walkinshaw Racing Tom Walkinshaw Eddy Joosen Rover Vitesse Div. 3 383 DNF DNF 1987 Andy Rouse Engineering Andy Rouse Thierry Tassin Ford Sierra RS Cosworth Div. 3 252 DNF DNF 1988 Nissan Motorsports Europe Allan Grice Anders Olofsson Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R Div. 3 482 6th 4th 1989 Eggenberger Motorsport Gianfranco Brancatelli Bernd Schneider Ford Sierra RS500 Div. 3 481 1st 1st

Complete Bathurst 1000 results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Overallposition Classposition 1985 Tom Walkinshaw Racing Tom Walkinshaw Jaguar XJS C 160 3rd 3rd 1987 Roadways Racing Allan Grice Holden Commodore VL 1 96 DNF DNF 1988 Roadways Racing Allan Grice Holden Commodore VL SS Group A SV A 139 15th 11th 1989 Holden Racing Team Neil Crompton Holden Commodore VL SS Group A SV A 158 7th 7th 1990 Holden Racing Team Allan Grice Holden Commodore VL SS Group A SV A 161 1st 1st 1991 Holden Racing Team Allan Grice Holden Commodore VN A 160 2nd 2nd 1992 Holden Racing Team Allan Grice Holden Commodore VP C 141 5th 1st 1993 Holden Racing Team Tomas Mezera Holden Commodore VP A 107 DNF DNF 1994 Wayne Gardner Racing Russell Ingall Holden Commodore VP A 161 5th 5th 1995 Wayne Gardner Racing Brad Jones Holden Commodore VR 161 5th 5th 1997 John Faulkner Racing John Faulkner Holden Commodore VS L1 154 5th 5th