Clay Richards join the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series field for this weekend's SpeedSeries event at Winton.
Son of Steven, and grandson of Jim, third-generation Clay will debut in the Shannons Insurance Melbourne Performance Centre (MPC) backed Audi RS3 LMS, after previously taking part in the Garry Rogers Motorsport (GRM) combine earlier this year.
“This is a great opportunity for me to taste TCR racing for the first time,” says Richards.
“It's a whole new experience for me with front-wheel-drive race cars, racing against lots of drivers with plenty of experience in the category and with these cars.
“My aims for the weekend are simple; to be consistent, continue learning every time I go on the track and clock up plenty of laps across the event.
“Naturally, I'm hoping this weekend is something we can build upon for the future.”
Some familiar names will join the Victorian on the grid at the rural Victorian circuit, including current series leader and HMO Customer Racing's Bailey Sweeny.
Sweeny will be alongside HMO Customer Racing teammate and Phillip Island round winner Josh Buchan. The pair are confident that they will take an advantage at the tight and twisty circuit to further their presence at the top of the points.
The Hyundais will come under immense pressure from second and third in the points, Jordan Cox and Aaron Cameron in the GRM prepared Peugeot 308s.
“I have got full trust in the GRM crew with what they do, there are four drivers in GRM and we have all got our own unique driving styles but we work very well together to go down a path then put our own personal touches on things,” Cox said.
“I'm confident moving forward, the boys have had some good tests and we have seemed to have made a great gain. I am here to win the series, I'm not here just to make up the numbers. I haven't had the race wins I've wanted but I've been up there a lot of the time.”
They will be joined out of the GRM garage by Kody Garland, who has started to gain some traction at Phillip Island.
Reigning champion, Tony D'Alberto will again be behind the wheel of his Wall Racing Honda Civic FK7 along with other contenders Carl Cox Motorsports' Michael Clemente and Forza Brakes Motorsports' Lachlan Mineeff.
After making his series debut at Phillip Island, Brad Harris will compete in his Exclusive Switchboards Honda Civic Type R for the second time, while Englishman Tom Oliphant will again pilot the new Autoglym/ASM Lynk & Co.
A notable absence will be 2019 champion Will Brown, who will be travelling to the United States for a fact-finding mission at a Nascar race in St Louis.
Two drivers who will attempt to take full advantage of Brown's absence will be Tufflift Racings Zac Zoutar and Iain McDougall.
The Shannons SpeedSeries' Hi-Tec Oils Race Winton takes place at Winton Raceway on 9-11 June, with Saturday's coverage on Stan Sport from 11:00 AEST.
Entry List
Car # | SPONSOR | DRIVER | STATE | VEHICLE | MODEL | CC | COLOUR |
1 | Honda Wall Racing | Tony D'Alberto | VIC | Honda | Civic FK7 TCR | 1998 | Red/White |
4 | Shannons Insurance MPC | Clay Richards | VIC | Audi | RS3 LMS SEQ | 1984 | Green/White |
14 | Purple Sector | Lachlan Mineeff | NSW | Audi | RS3 LMS SEQ | 1998 | Orange |
15 | Carl Cox Motorspport | Michael Clemente | VIC | Cupra | Leon Competicion TCR | 1998 | Black/Red |
18 | Team Valvoline GRM | Aaron Cameron | VIC | Peugeot | 308 TCR | 1600 | Red |
22 | Challenge Motorsport | Iain McDougall | VIC | Auid | RS3 LMS SEQ | 1984 | Red/Silver/Black |
30 | HMO Customer Racing | Josh Buchan | NSW | Hyundai | i30N Sedan | 1999 | Blue/Orange |
33 | Schaeffler GRM | Jordan Cox | NSW | Peugeot | 308 TCR | 1600 | Green/White |
41 | Valvoline Racing GRM | Kody Garland | NSW | Peugeot | 308 TCR | 1800 | Red |
71 | Burson Auto Parts Racing | Ben Bargwanna | VIC | Peugeot | 308 TCR | 1600 | Blue/Red/White |
74 | Exclusive Switchboards / Wall Racing | Brad Harris | NSW | Honda | Civic FK7 TCR | 1998 | Aquamarine |
110 | Team Soutar Motorsport | Zac Soutar | VIC | Audi | RS3 LMS TCR | 1998 | Black/Yellow |
115 | Autoglym / Ashley Seward Motorsport | Tom Oliphant | NSW | Lynk & Co | CO 03 TCR | 1750 | White/Red/Green |
130 | HMO Customer Racing | Bailey Sweeny | NSW | Hyundai | i30N TCR | 1999 | Blue/Orange |