Peter Janson
Percy Pierre Gustaf "Peter" Janson a true extrovert 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.
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.
Often referred to as "The Captain" or "Captain Peter Janson", this allegedly comes from that he was either a Captain in the Indian Army while being the Trade Commissioner for Australia in India, or he was allegedly a Captain in the Bhutan Air Force.
Motor racing
Janson was a competitor in Australian [Touring Car Championship|Australian Touring Car Racing]. He made 19 Bathurst 1000 starts between 1973 and 1992 primarily in Holden Toranas and Commodores, finishing second in Bathurst 1000|1979] and 1980 and third in 1977. 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, though that class win wasn't without its trials. Unlike the ultra-fit triathlete Crowe, Janson wasn't all that into exercise, not to mention that he regularly smoked cigars, and unlike the lazy V8's and V12's he had raced previously at Bathurst, the 4-cylinder BMW required the driver to be a lot more on the ball physically and mentally. At one point late in the race before his minimum drive time was over, an exhausted Janson drove into the pits and "fell out of the car", though he was coaxed back out onto the track by the team for a few more laps before handing over to Crowe to finish the race.
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 CAMS rule that only allowed a driver's name to be carried above the window line. 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.
Career results
Results sourced from Driver Database.| 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 |
Complete World Endurance Championship results
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | DC | Points | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1984 |  Complete Australian Touring Car Championship results
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