Porsche 956 - Team Australia
Peter Brock / Larry Perkins
A rolling start saw a battle ensue between Vern Schuppans Porsche and Bob Wolleks Lancia . Team Australias race started with Larry Perkins behind the wheel , pitting after 12 laps with an unexpectantly early need for more fuel . After 3 hours and with night approaching , Peter Brock was racing along in 5th position when he had the misfortune of a front wheel parting company with the car . A crawl back to the pitsand subsequent repairs dropped the Team back to 35th position .
Three hours later at around 9pm , a rear suspension arm broke whilst Larry Perkins was driving at near top speed through the Mulsanne kink . Avoiding a potential spin at 350kph , Perkins pitted and returned to the race after losing 14 minutes for repairs . Team Australia clawed their way back up to 20th position and a decision was made to push harder into the night to recover lost ground . However , just prior to 2am , with Perkins driving , the Team Australia effort was over with the carending up caught in the catch fencing at The Esses following a high speed overtaking manouvre that simply ran out of road .
