After a lengthy mid-season break, Steven Richards and the Laser Racing team are looking to add some valuable championship points this weekend with Porsche Carrera Cup Australia returning to Sydney Motorsport Park [SMP] for the fifth round of the season.
To date 2016 has provided a ‘mixed bag’ for the 2014 Carrera Cup champion, but Richards’ recent run of form, plus the teams valuable miles on the new SMP track surface back in May during the Porsche Rennsport event, make the reigning Bathurst 1000 champion a real threat on a circuit he enjoys.
“I’ve had a mixed experience on the Sydney circuit over the years, but almost always managed to find a little extra and gain a good haul of points,” Richards admitted.
In fact in recent years, Richards has been on the podium in his immaculate Laser Racing Porsche more times than off it, with four podium finishes over the last six races on the V8 Supercar weekends, and Richards for one is hoping that experience and his current form will provide the team a platform from which to attack across the final rounds of the championship.
“There are a lot of elements that make a successful team, but the most important is experience, and with five seasons of PCCA under my belt now, we have plenty of that. Fortunately too a lot of my team have been with me across that period. Some of the people we’re racing hard against at the front might have changed, and the cars have been upgraded to the new Porsche Type 991, but a lot of the basics are still the same, so we’ll be looking to take that knowledge and apply it this weekend, and I think we’re certainly a podium chance.
“As a team we managed to finish on the podium last time out [Rennsport in May] with the car of Garth Tander and James Bergmuller, so we know we can find what the circuit needs and apply it to both cars this weekend.”
In most rounds Porsche Carrera Cup Australia teams would contest three races across the weekend alongside the V8 Supercars, but this weekend there is a twist.. For the first time in the Cup’s history, there will be a race-within-a-race, with the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia teams also contesting a round of their championship at Sydney, ahead of two races where the top competitors from each championship will come together for an ‘invitational’ sprint race, one for the Pro drivers, another for the amateurs..
“I’m looking forward to that,” Richards admitted. “It’s a great promotion to pit the two series against each other, and I for one am interested to see how we fare against the best Carrera Cup drivers in Asia. I’ve seen a number of their races on television, and certainly this year a number of hot young hopefuls have emerged, so it’s going to be a tough battle and I’m looking forward to being a part of it.”
Opening practice begins at 9:55am on Friday morning (26 August) with every session and every race broadcast on Fox Sports 5 (Channel 506).