You're on our turf now, Richards warns rivals
14/8/2004 15:16 (Press Release) -
Jason Richards has issued a timely reminder to his rivals in the lead-up to next weekend’s eighth round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series at Oran Park – “You’re on our turf now!”
Richards’ Sydney-based Tasman Motorsport team is the only team to test at the Western Sydney track – and the only one to have exclusive use of any current V8 race venue – which he said he was “super-keen” to capitalise on.
Add to the mix a highly successful recent test day at Oran Park with their two-race-old VY Commodore, a great race at Winton two weeks ago in which a potential podium placing went begging, and the fact that Richards finish fifth overall at Oran Park last year, and some confidence appears entirely justified.
“I’m pretty pumped for this round, to tell you the truth,” he said. “Our test day last week went really well, on previously used tyres the car was 7/10ths of a second faster than when we first ran it there, and quicker than my qualifying time from last year. So the car’s heaps better than the old VX already.
“There’s nothing better than being able to perform on your home track, in front of your home crowd, and I’m fairly confident we’re going to do well.
“It’s a pretty technical track where you’re got to be on top of your damper settings, and about 75 per cent of the track is corners so you’re really giving the rear tyres a pretty tough time.
“We’re the only team to have turned a wheel there this year which gives a real edge to use.”
He said the team had worked hard during the recent round at Winton to address a lack of front grip in the new car, a result they continued to build on during testing.
“There’s still a bit of understeer there, but we’ve got a handle on it and the car definitely has more speed in it. Winton was really encouraging because we finished the race on 95-lap-old tyres that were still pretty quick at the end.
“We got up to fourth and had a chance at a podium at Winton, but some mud left on the track brought us undone. This time around we’ll be doing everything possible to present ourselves so that when such an opportunity arises, we can take it!”
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