Australian motorsport legend Larry Perkins appears set to bring his formal involvement with the V8 Supercars Championship to an end by selling his two Race Entitlements Contracts to Kelly Racing.
Kelly Racing has used the pair of Perkins licenses alongside its own two since taking over and expanding the then Perkins Motorsport squad in the 2008/2009 off-season.
According to a report on motoring website Carsales.com.au, Perkins is currently in negotiations to sell the licenses for good.
“It’s just another stage, just like ending racing was a stage and handing over race preparation to the Kellys was another stage,” Perkins told the website of ending his V8 Supercar involvement.
Kelly Racing chairman John Crennan added that his team’s current agreement with Perkins “does have one more year to run, but we are currently in discussion to shorten that arrangement by one year and those discussions are ongoing.”
The existing deal between Kelly Racing and Perkins sees the licenses utilised by but not officially leased to the Braeside-based outfit, and therefore has not come under the two-year maximum lease period rule that the category has in place.
Buying the licenses would further cement Kelly Racing’s position as a heavyweight within the V8 Supercars paddock as it prepares to be officially re-branded Nissan Motorsport on January 1st, 2013.
Perkins is a former six-time winner of the Bathurst 1000, taking victory with the Holden Dealer Team in 1982, 1983 and 1984 before tasting success with his own squad in 1993, 1995 and 1997.
