Win Percy
Winston "Win" Percy ( born September 28, 1943 in Tolpuddle ) is a retired British racing driver and motorsport team manager.
Career in motorsports
Training and first steps in motorsport
Percy made after leaving school trained as a car mechanic and began at the age of 21 years in 1964 in the UK on a standard Ford Anglia to drive club races. In the early years of his career in motorsport hobby and pastime was on the weekend. When he won more races, he decided early 1970s to a professional racing career.
Touring car race
In 1975 he went into the British Touring Car Championship and was from the first year to one of the defining and dominant driver this series. In 1975 he finished equal his first racing season second overall. For use was doing a Toyota Celica GT by the British racing team Samurai Racing with Toyota had reported. Percy celebrated ten class wins in 14 race starts in Class A.
After another second place, he moved to the beginning of 1980 the team of Tom Walkinshaw. The partnership between the racer and team boss Walkinshaw and Percy became one of the most successful in the British touring car racing. Three times in a row won Percy superior to the championship. 1980 and 1981 with a Mazda RX -7 for Walkinshaw and 1982 at the wheel of a Toyota Carolla GT, which was used by Toyota UK.
In 1984 he returned to Tom Walkinshaws racing team and drove from then on in the European Touring Car Championship. Walkinshaw and Percy contested the race with the heavy Jaguar XJS with a 6- liter V12 engine. While Percy after some technical problems at the beginning of season only seventh in the championship, was Walkinshaw finished the race series before the third TWR- drivers Hans Heyer as the overall winner. In 1985 the team from Jaguar to use vehicles from Rover. With the Rover Vitesse Percy in 1985 and 1986 third runner-up in the final results of the European Championship.
In Australia, the Briton was active. In 1990, he won jointly with Allan Grice at the 1000 km race at Bathurst
Sports car racing
Since Tom Walkinshaw in the 1980s and 1990s, the group C inserts of Jaguar in the sports car world championship with his team and oversaw transacted Percy came to some stakes in sports car racing. In 1986 and 1987 he went for Jaguar in the 24- hour race at Le Mans; whereby it because of a technical defect 1986, a year later, very lucky after a failure. On the night he crashed in the Jaguar XJR- 8, whose cockpit he shared with Jan Lammers and John Watson, heavy. After suffering a puncture on the Ligne Droite the Mulsanne at over 300 km / h battered parts flying off tire rear body parts of the Jaguar then flew away. As a result, the car lost traction and took off, turns in the air around its own axis and overturned after hitting the road several times. 600 meters after the start of the accident came to be the wreck. Except for the driver's cell without doors and windows, the car was completely destroyed. Except for a few scratches on the helmet, Percy rose from this pile of troops without injury or damage.
Overall, Percy six times at Le Mans at the start; the best result was the 14th place in 1988.
Team Manager
After he had been in 1990 and 1991 as team manager and driver for Holden acted in the Australian Touring Car Championship, he managed the business operations of the Jaguar XJ220 zwischen 1995 and 1997.
Win Percy, married to Rosemary, drove in the historical group -C series after his retirement from active competition.