BATHURST 1000
By MARK RAYNER
HE is one of the good guys in the V8 Supercars championship and, while Jason Richards has come close to success before, 2008 may just be his year at Bathurst.
He is the first to admit that the championship tilt of himself and Holden team-mate Greg Murphy has been a disaster, and they completed only 12 laps at Phillip Island before mechanical failure brought an end to their race, but the Kiwi is now confident that the gremlins are out of the car and they will be up there with the big guns on Sunday afternoon.
"We are really well prepared, we only did 12 laps of the main race at Phillip Island but since then we have gone through the car with a fine tooth comb and there shouldn't be any problems," Richards said.
"We have had good speed over the last five rounds but haven't really got the results to show for it and that's why our championship positions aren't good."
Richards chalked up his 100th V8 Supercars round at Phillip Island and said in the future he would like to have just as many race appearances as record holder John Bowe (225).
"There's an argument that because I didn't get in the car at Phillip Island, Bathurst will be my 100th, but I did my first Bathurst in 2000 and I didn't realise until recently just how many I had actually done," Richards said.
"John Bowe holds the record and I have almost half that and in a lot less time.
"I'd like to think that I have got a few years of racing left in me but you never know. I am signed with Sprint Gas Racing until the end of 2009."
The 32-year-old said winning Bathurst was one of his biggest goals and was a higher priority than a championship.
"For me Bathurst [is bigger], because I haven't won one and it goes back to when I was a kid and I grew up watching Bathurst, not the championship," Richards said.
"It is the pinnacle round and clearly I haven't won a Bathurst, so once I win one then I will want to win a championship.
"The championship has become a lot more competitive and has grown in the last few years."
Richards' best Bathurst result was with Jamie Whincup in 2005 and since then Whincup has gone on to win two successive Bathurst titles with Craig Lowndes ? something Richards hopes he can emulate.
"It didn't really trigger until the other day that his worst result at Bathurst in the last three years is second, but I would like to be able to get one back on him," he said.
While drivers like Whincup, Garth Tander and Mark Winterbottom will be attracting a lot of the attention before the race, Richards said was confident his team would be competitive.
"This is my 11th Bathurst and Greg has done a fair few and we have both been pretty successful, so we should be able to net a good result," Richards said.
"Tander, Winterbottom and Whincup have been doing most of the winning and Dick Johnson Racing with Will Davison need to be mentioned as well, but it only takes a couple of those guys to fall out of the race to be right up there."
Despite still waiting for his maiden victory, Richards said he already feels like a winner.
"I feel like I won it in 2005 when we were beaten by Skaife in one of the smallest winning margins ever," he said.
"It is a long, hard and emotional day and to finish first would be awesome.
"Even with some poor results this year we could walk away from 2008 saying it was a successful season if we win Bathurst."
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