Thomas Randle’s Larry Perkins-inspired Castrol-backed Ford Mustang.
The colours that were driven to three Bathurst 1000 wins aboard Perkins Engineering Holdens have been transferred to the Ford as the oil company leans into its racing heritage.
Tickford’s tribute has been undertaken with the blessing of Supercars Hall of Famer Perkins and will include Randle donning a helmet mimicking the legend’s famous lid.
Randle described sporting the saw tooth scheme as an honour.
“Larry had three Bathurst victories in that livery and a Sandown 500 win as well, so it’s probably the perfect time to be running the paint scheme on our Mustang,” he said.
“Castrol don’t do things in halves and the fact we’re not just running the livery at Sandown, but we’ve got the race suit to go with it and also the same helmet design that Larry ran during that time.
“I’ve got to thank Castrol, the Perkins family and Tickford Racing for putting this together, especially with the high stakes of being in the semi-final.”
Thomas Randle’s Larry Perkins-inspired Castrol-backed Ford Mustang.
Tickford is the latest to wheel out the livery, which was featured on a Kelly Racing Nissan Altima in 2018 and Jack Perkins’ Super2 ZB Commodore two years ago.
It featured on various Castrol-supported machines in the 1990s, including Tony Longhurst’s Ford Falcon.
Perkins said seeing the scheme again brings back fond memories, particularly of his Bathurst triumphs.
“I always thought that they were good looking cars, if that means anything, but they certainly looked exceptional when it was first across the line,” he said.
“Thomas’ car looks very much like my 1995 Bathurst winner and I think the designer has done a very good job. I hope he can have the same success at Sandown this weekend.”
Perkins hosted Randle at his family’s farm in Cowangie, Victoria, this week as part of the collaboration.
“It was nice to host Thomas at our family farm in Cowangie ahead of Sandown. We’ve been here for 105 years,” added Perkins.
“My grandad first took on the land when he came back from World War 1, and my dad was born on the farm.
“I grew up here, I went to school down the road and now I’m back living here. I have a lot of memories, and I still really enjoy it.”
Randle is meanwhile focused on trying to progress through the Semi-Final round of the inaugural Supercars Finals Series.
The Tickford driver enters the weekend as the seventh and final driver still in contention, with just four set to battle it out at the Adelaide Grand Final.
“It’s going to be all about maximum aggression. We’ve got nothing to lose with two races at 250km each and we’ll be on maximum attack,” said Randle.
“We’ve definitely displayed some good speed at Sandown in the past and we want to make it into the top four to compete for the title in Adelaide. That’s the ultimate goal.
“Carrying those iconic colours, hopefully it gives us an extra boost and I want to make Larry and our team proud.”
