Kiwi racing icon Steven Richards will be playing his part in the forthcoming Highlands Six Hour race – but this time, he’ll be overseeing the action from the pits rather than behind the wheel.
Richards, a five-time Bathurst winner and son of Jim Richards, will be looking after son and rising star Clay, who will race alongside Matt O’Donnell and Blake Knowles in a TCR specification Audi R3 LMS.
Steve will be calling the shots on race strategy as the trio takes on a field of GT specification machines in the first ever Six Hour event for this style of racing car in New Zealand.
Clay has raced a similar specification Audi TCR car back in Australia this season and also raced in two rounds of the New Zealand Toyota 86 Championship, but this will be his first time around the challenging Highlands Motorsport Park.
Clay has been busy recently – competing in the Toyota 86 Australia Championship at the final round at Bathurst, impressing with three podium finishes over the course of three highly competitive races.
Richards senior says it’s going to be tough, but the whole team is looking forward to the weekend.
“It should be a good weekend where everyone behind the wheel has some degree of experience in the car or at least the type of car,” he explained.
“There’s lots new about the experience for me though, and I’m really looking forward to helping the team do the best they can.”
The Richards family won’t be the only Australian-based drivers making the trip to the big race, Superstar Shane van Gisbergen is down to drive in the big race and in the supporting Aussie Race Cars class.
Rising star Ryan Wood and former Supercar racer Luke Youlden are also on the entry list – the latter driving one of two Mercedes AMG GT3s heading to Highlands for the weekend from Australia.
Header Image: TGRNZ
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