A moment in time

In this atmospheric workshop shot, the victorious #05 Torana Brock/Richards and the third-placed Radburn/Smith four-door sandwich the Cadbury-Schweppes hatchback of Peter Janson and Larry Perkins. The cars will soon be ‘torn-down’ to ensure they comply with the regulations. Scrutineers will find no problem with any of this trio and the results, as per Sunday’s podium presentation, stand. Janson and Perkins finished best of the rest, the unlikely combination amid a purple (and yellow) patch of Panorama podium placings. That year The Captain and his hired gun circulated at a predetermined and conservative pace that never really put pressure on Brock and Richards, yet left the rest of the field two laps or more behind. The flamboyant Janson and pragmatic Perkins were two very different characters, whose remarkably successful partnership was explored in depth in AMC #108. As Larry explained of Bathurst’s clown prince, “He lived on gin and tonic, chased some wild women, but he was fantastically up to the job of driving those cars.” No sign of either in this evocative photo – hey, Janson’s Sunday night paddock parties were legendary – but can you pick Brock, Richards, Harrop and Sheppard? Les Small is lurking behind the Paul Ross Meats Torana, a car and campaign featured here.