| Peter Janson | |
| Nationality: |  New Zealander |
| Birth Date: | 10 April 1940 |
| Retired: | 1992 |
| Last Series: | Australian Touring Car Championship |
| Years Active: | 1973–92 |
Percy Pierre Gustaf "Peter" Janson (born 10 April 1940 in New Zealand) is an Australian socialite and former motor racing driver.
Janson was born in New Zealand, emigrating to England at a young age. In 1967, he moved to Australia and settled in Melbourne.[1]
Janson, who listed his occupation as "Gentleman", established a playboy penthouse in the Federal Hotel before moving to the Hotel Windsor. In the 1980s he moved to Rutherglen House. Janson is renowned for the parties he throws, and was a pioneer in transforming the Melbourne Cup into a major event on the Australian social calendar.[2] [3]
Janson was a competitor in Australian Touring Car Racing. He made 19 Bathurst 1000 starts between 1973 and 1992 primarily in Holden Toranas and Commodores, finishing second in 1979 and 1980 and third in 1977 (all of his podium finishes were with Larry Perkins who would go on to be a six time winner of the race).[4] [5] With the end of the Group C era in 1984, Janson closed his team but continued to drive for other teams including joining Sydney based privateer Garry Wilmington in a V12 Jaguar XJS in the 1985 and 1986 races. He later scored a class win and fourth outright driving a BMW M3 with fellow Kiwi Trevor Crowe at the 1988 Bathurst 1000.[6] Janson's last appearance at Bathurst was in 1992 where he and Bob Jones finished 20th in a Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV.
Always a colourful character who gave his sponsors a plug at every opportunity, especially when being interviewed in the pits, Janson briefly changed his name by deed poll in the mid-1970s to NGK Janson to circumvent a rule that only allowed a driver's name to be carried above the window line.[7] His former co-driver Larry Perkins also told that one year on a parade lap at Bathurst, Janson continually pulled the car off onto the grass in order to throw Cherry Ripe chocolate bars out to the crowd (his major sponsor being Cadbury Schweppes).
Results sourced from Driver Database.[8]
| Season | Series | Position | Car | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 14th | Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 | Peter Janson | |
| 1977 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 11th | Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback | Captain Peter Janson | |
| 1978 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 30th | Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback | Cadbury - Schweppes | |
| 1979 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 16th | Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback | Cadbury Schweppes Racing | |
| 1980 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 30th | Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback | Cadbury Schweppes Racing | |
| 1981 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 6th | Holden VC Commodore | Cadbury Schweppes Racing | |
| 1982 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 27th | Holden VC Commodore | Cadbury Schweppes Racing | |
| 1982 | Australian Endurance Championship | 48th | Holden VH Commodore SS | Cadbury Schweppes Racing | |
| 1983 | Australian Endurance Championship | NC | Holden VH Commodore SS | Cadbury Schweppes Racing | |
| 1984 | Australian Endurance Championship | NC | Holden VH Commodore SS | Cadbury Schweppes Racing | |
| 1984 | World Endurance Championship | NC | Porsche Kremer CK5 | Porsche Kremer Racing | |
| 1985 | Australian Endurance Championship | 69th | Jaguar XJS | Garry Willmington | |
| 1986 | Australian Endurance Championship | NC | Jaguar XJS | Garry Willmington | |
| 1987 | World Touring Car Championship | NC | Holden VK Commodore SS Group A | Petro-Tech | |
| 1988 | Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship | 9th | BMW M3 | John Sax | |
| 1990 | Australian Endurance Championship | NC | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | Lusty Engineering | |
| 1991 | Australian Endurance Championship | NC | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | Peter Janson |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | DC | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 |  Captain Peter Janson | Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 | SYM 5 | CAL | ORA 10 | SAN | AMA | AIR 10 | LAK | SAN | AIR | SUR | PHI 3 | 14th | 10 | |
| 1977 | Ipec | Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback | SYM | CAL Ret | ORA 10 | AMA | SAN | AIR | LAK | SAN Ret | AIR 5 | SUR | PHI 2 | 11th | 13 | |
| 1978 | Cadbury - Schweppes | Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback | SYM | ORA | AMA | SAN | WAN | CAL 5 | LAK | AIR | 30th | 2 | ||||
| 1979 | Cadbury Schweppes Racing | Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback | SYM | CAL 4 | ORA | SAN | WAN | SUR 6 | LAK | AIR | 16th | 5 | ||||
| 1980 | Cadbury Schweppes Racing | Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback | SYM | CAL | LAK | SAN 5 | WAN | SUR | AIR | ORA | 30th | 2 | ||||
| 1981 | Cadbury Schweppes Racing | Holden VC Commodore | SYM 4 | CAL 5 | LAK 5 | SAN 3 | WAN | AIR 4 | SUR 3 | ORA | 6th | 24 | ||||
| 1982 | Cadbury Schweppes Racing | Holden VC Commodore | SAN | CAL 4 | SYM | ORA Ret | LAK | WAN | AIR | SUR | 27th | 5 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
† Not eligible for series points| Year | Car# | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 54 | John Lord | John Lord | Honda Civic | A | 134 | 22nd | 4th | |
| 1974 | 23 | Taylor’s College Racing | Paul Feltham | Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 | 3001 – 6000cc | - | DNS | DNS | |
| 1975 | 17 | Massey Holden | John Harvey | Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 | D | 143 | DNF | DNF | |
| 1976 | 15 | Captain Peter Janson | Kevin Bartlett | Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 | 3001cc - 6000cc | 158 | 5th | 5th | |
| 1977 | 15 | NGK Janson | Larry Perkins | Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback | 3001cc – 6000cc | 162 | 3rd | 3rd | |
| 1978 | 9 | ReCar Racing Cadbury - Schweppes | Phil Brock | Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback | 3001cc – 6000cc | 110 | DNF | DNF | |
| 1979 | 19 | Cadbury Schweppes Racing | Larry Perkins | Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback | A | 157 | 2nd | 2nd | |
| 1980 | 4 | Cadbury Schweppes Racing | Larry Perkins | Holden VC Commodore | 3001-6000cc | 162 | 2nd | 2nd | |
| 1981 | 3 | Cadbury Schweppes Racing | Larry Perkins | Holden VC Commodore | 8 Cylinder & Over | 67 | DNF | DNF | |
| 1982 | 3 | Cadbury Schweppes Racing | David Parsons | Holden VH Commodore SS | A | 158 | 4th | 4th | |
| 1983 | 3 | Cadbury Schweppes Racing | David Parsons | Holden VH Commodore SS | A | 106 | DNF | DNF | |
| 1984 | 3 | Cadbury Schweppes Racing | Garry Rogers | Holden VH Commodore SS | Group C | 109 | DNF | DNF | |
| 1985 | 12 | Garry Willmington | Garry Willmington | Jaguar XJS | C | 150 | 14th | 12th | |
| 1986 | 12 | Garry Willmington | Garry Willmington | Jaguar XJS | C | 88 | DNF | DNF | |
| 1987 | 3 | Petro-Tech | Peter Fitzgerald | Holden VK Commodore SS Group A | 1 | 144 | 18th | 12th | |
| 1988 | 53 | John Sax | Trevor Crowe | BMW M3 | 1 | 156 | 4th | 1st | |
| 1989 | 15 | ICL Racing | Allan Grice | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | A | 153 | 10th | 10th | |
| 1990 | 22 | Lusty Engineering | Graham Lusty | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 1 | 83 | DNF | DNF | |
| 1991 | 13 | Peter Janson | Peter Gazzard | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 1 | 53 | DNF | DNF | |
| 1992 | 13 | Ampol Max 3 Racing | Bob Jones | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | A | 128 | 20th | 18th |