STEVEN RICHARDS RETURNS TO CARRERA CUP

Reigning Bathurst 100 winner Steven Richards returns to Carrera Cup – Photo: LAT

REIGNING BATHURST 1000 winner Steven Richards has announced that he will return to the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia championship in 2019.

Richards, who AUTO ACTION has learned will team up with Mark Winterbottom for the Pirtek Enduro Cup, is the latest high-profile confirmation for one-make Porsche series after three years running and competing in BMW’s Australian GT program.

The 2014 Carrera Cup champion will contest the 2019 season with his own Steve Richards Motorsport operation and will announce his major backer in the coming weeks ahead of the Adelaide 500 season opener.

“I’m really looking forward to coming back to Carrera Cup. The series has certainly stepped up another notch since I was involved, from the new cars to its popularity and the incredible investment of Porsche into the championship,” said Richards.

“I was attracted back to Carrera Cup for numerous reasons. The professionalism of the series is second-to-none and racing at high-profile Supercars Championship events and the Australian Grand Prix is great value for the brands I’ll represent in 2019. Also, importantly, the racing is first class with a great blend of young up-and-coming drivers and some really serious Pro-Am competitors.”

Richards is eager to be competitive from the season-opening Adelaide 500 with the aim of adding to his current three round wins, 13 race wins, 21 round podiums and one title victory in the category.

“My hope is to be competitive and start the season where we finished off in 2016. The competition has certainly stepped up but we’ll head into Adelaide as prepared as possible with the aim of podium finishes.” Richards continued.

The 2019 Porsche Carrera Cup Australia season commences alongside the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship at the Adelaide 500, February 28 to March 03, 2019.

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