Périn started racing in 1977 and turned professional in 1984 as co-pilot to driver François Chatriot, finishing second in the French Rally Championship in that debut season. He went on to win the French Rally Championship in 1988, 1989, and 1990, establishing himself as one of France's leading navigators in stage rally competition.
In 1992, Périn switched focus to off-road rally raid, partnering with Pierre Lartigue. The combination produced three consecutive Dakar Rally victories in 1994, 1995, and 1996, as well as the FIA Cross Country World Cup title every year from 1993 to 1996. During this period Périn also accumulated victories and podiums at major off-road events including the Rally of Tunisia, Atlas Rally, Baja Italy, Spanish Baja, and Baja Portugal.
In 1997 and 1998, Périn returned to stage rally, competing in the French Rally Championship with driver Patrick Magaud. At the end of 1998 he moved into team management at Citroën Sport, stepping back from active navigation.
Périn resumed co-driving in 2004, sharing the cockpit with Guerlain Chicherit. In 2005 he joined the Volkswagen Motorsport Team, serving as co-driver to Bruno Saby. That partnership produced a fifth FIA Cross Country World Cup title, with victories at the Rally of Morocco and Rallye d'Orient and a fifth-place finish at the Dakar Rally.
In 2007, Périn partnered with Carlos Sainz for Volkswagen, winning the Cross Country World Cup again after victories at the Rally Transibérico and a second place at the Rally of Morocco and the UAE Desert Challenge. At the Dakar Rally, the pair finished ninth after suffering a mechanical failure. When the 2008 Dakar Rally was rerouted to Central Europe following the 2007 killing of French tourists in Mauritania, Périn and Sainz won the event outright.
The 2009 Dakar Rally proved costly: the pair led the overall classification for several days before an accident caused by missing documentation in the roadbook. Périn broke his arm and the team was forced to retire.
In 2009, BMW contracted Périn as co-driver to Nani Roma in a BMW X3, winning Baja Spain that year. Their 2010 Dakar Rally campaign began promisingly with victory on the opening stage, but two accidents forced retirement in the third stage.
In 2015, Périn joined X-Raid as co-driver to Finnish rally raid driver Mikko Hirvonen. In 2018 he returned to the Dakar Rally as co-driver to Dutch driver Bernhard ten Brinke with a Toyota Hilux for Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa.
Périn's career spans five decades and encompasses both stage rally and cross-country rally raid at the highest level. His five FIA Cross Country World Cup titles and three Dakar victories across different partnerships with Lartigue, Saby, and Sainz place him among the foremost navigators in the history of the discipline.
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